Who’s Responsible When You’re Hurt on a DFW Construction Project?
It’s no secret that working in building construction is among the most dangerous occupations in the world. That doesn’t mean, however, that you should expect or assume the risk of getting hurt. In Texas and across the country, there are laws in place to promote the safety of construction workers. Far too often, injuries suffered at a residential or commercial construction project are the result of carelessness, negligence, or other wrongful acts by an owner, general contractor, or other entity. Such injuries that can be avoided with the exercise of reasonable care.
What Is the Basis for Liability When You’re Hurt in a Construction Site Accident?
There are two avenues you might pursue if you suffer a needless injury while working on a Dallas construction site. You may be able to obtain benefits through a workers’ compensation claim, or you may be able to file a personal injury lawsuit.
When Does Workers’ Compensation Apply to a Construction Site Injury?
While Texas has workers’ compensation laws to protect injured workers, it works somewhat differently in Dallas and across the Lone Star State. Whereas other states require most employers to provide workers’ compensation coverage, Texas allows employers to opt out (or elect not to subscribe) to the state’s workers’ comp system. As a practical matter, though, the vast majority of employers are subscribers to the Texas workers’ compensation system. If your employer subscribes to the Texas workers’ compensation system, you must seek benefits through a workers’ comp claim and won’t be able to file a personal injury lawsuit.
To be able to file a workers’ comp claim after a construction site accident injury, you must first show that your employer subscribes to the program. In addition, you must provide proof that you were hurt and that the injury happened in the course of your employment. You do not need to prove that your employer was negligent or otherwise at fault for causing your injury. In a worker’s compensation claim, you can seek reimbursement for lost wages, including future lost wages, and for all medical bills relating to your injury. You cannot seek damages for pain and suffering.
When Can You File a Personal Injury Lawsuit?
There are several situations where an injured worker might not be covered by workers’ compensation; in these situations, the worker may be able to file a personal injury lawsuit:
- If your employer is not a subscriber to the Texas workers’ compensation, you may seek damages in a personal injury suit.
- Workers’ compensation benefits are intended to cover only injuries caused by your employer or a coworker, so if you are hurt because of the wrongful acts of an unrelated third party, you may file a personal injury lawsuit.
- If you were working as an independent contractor, you may be ineligible for workers’ comp benefits.
- If your injury occurred while you were off-site on a lunch break, you may be disqualified from receiving workers’ comp benefits.
Determining Liability in a Personal Injury Lawsuit
Liability for injuries sustained in a Dallas construction site personal injury lawsuit are typically determined based on a legal theory of negligence. To prove negligence, you must establish all of the following:
- The defendant (person or entity from whom you seek compensation) had a duty to use reasonable care to minimize injury.
- The defendant breached (failed to meet) the duty to use reasonable care.
- The breach of duty caused an accident.
- Proving causation has two elements: You must show that the accident would not have happened if the defendant had acted reasonably, and you must show that the accident and/or injury were a reasonably foreseeable consequence of the defendant’s failure to use reasonable care.
Under personal injury law, as it has developed in Texas and across the country, every person in society has a duty at all times to exercise reasonable care so as to minimize the risk of injury to others. Accordingly, general contractors, designers/architects, subcontractors, and other employees are all under an obligation to exercise reasonable care. Whether or not their actions met that standard is typically determined by a jury.
Contact the Proven Construction Site Accident Attorneys at Bailey & Galyen
At Bailey & Galyen, we know the devastating impact a personal injury can have in your life. Over the last 40 years, we’ve aggressively advocated for people across Texas who have suffered needless injury because of the negligent acts of others, including clients hurt in construction site accidents. In our decades in practice, we have recovered hundreds of millions of dollars in judgments and settlements for injured people throughout the Lone Star State and across the nation. We will be a strong voice for you throughout the legal process, from the initial filing of your complaint through gathering evidence, going to trial, if necessary, and reaching the final resolution of your lawsuit. Contact us by e-mail or call our offices at one of the convenient locations listed below. Our phones are answered 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
