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Worksite Injury due to 3rd Party Fault
A seat collapses on a defective backhoe, herniating the disc of the driver. A sub-contractor covers a roof with plastic, causing a roofer to fall through. A construction worker stands on scaffolding improperly assembled, and falls 15 feet to the ground. The following questions must be asked in each of these cases: Who designed and manufactured the backhoe? What company was the sub-contractor employed by? Who put the scaffolding up? Was there a separate company in charge of maintaining it? What are these injured workers’ rights?
Sometimes people are injured while working as a result of the fault of someone who is not part of his/her own company. This person (or company) is called a “3rd party”. When this happens, the injury victim has rights against the 3rd party (and the 3rd party’s employer) which fall outside of the workers’ comp. system. In fact, given the ability to proceed against a 3rd party for pain and suffering as well as future lost income damages in these types of cases, very often, the recovery that the injury victim receives from the 3rd party can be MUCH HIGHER than the total recovery received under the workers’ comp. system alone.
However, these cases are tricky as they involve over-lapping benefits, an offset against your 3rd party case by the value of the benefits paid out by the workers’ comp. carrier, and a credit against your future workers’ comp. benefits. It is therefore extremely important that the injury victim obtain the advice of a professional who understands the interplay between California’s workers’ comp. laws AND its civil liability laws. Very often, injury victims retain EITHER a personal injury attorney or a workers’ comp. attorney to handle one of the two cases, but not both. We handle both types of cases and therefore, are in a unique position to maximize the benefits to the injury victim without any conflict of interest.
Sometimes, however, a client has already retained an attorney to handle one part of his/her case and is happy with his/her attorney. This is understandable as the attorney-client relationship is built on trust. In this situation, we may be retained to handle only the other part of the case. If we are selected by the injured worker to handle only one part of the case, whether it be the personal injury part or the workers’ comp. part, we work hand-in-hand with your other attorney to ensure that you receive the MAXIMUM overall benefit and we keep you fully informed in this regard. We obtain evidence that is needed in both cases, and we share it with your other attorney and, if requested, we will attend any settlement conference or mediation so that the full impact on your other case is known before any final signatures are made.
If you have been injured on a jobsite, or as a result of someone other than your employer’s (or co-employee’s) negligence, call our office for a FREE CONSULTATION to understand the full extent of your rights.