Who Can You Sue After a Construction Accident?

Construction accidents usually involve falls, impacts from falling objects, incidents involving sharp or heavy machinery, or massive construction vehicles. The resulting injuries can be severe, life-changing, or even life-ending.

Damages that result from a construction accident require significant compensation. The circumstances of your accident play a major role in determining exactly who owes you that compensation. 

A construction accident lawyer from John Foy & Associates is your ideal partner when pursuing a construction accident settlement. Your lawyer will fight to secure you the highest settlement possible, so you can look forward to a stable financial future.

Can Injured Construction Workers Sue an Employer?

If you are a construction worker injured on the job, workers’ compensation laws prevent you from suing your employer. You still have options for recouping your losses and holding negligent parties responsible for your injuries and damages.

Workers’ Compensation

Your first recourse is to report your accident to your boss or supervisor and apply for workers’ compensation benefits. In Georgia, workers’ compensation benefits provide you with a weekly check totaling two-thirds of your typical wages, tax-free. They also cover your medical expenses, including transportation costs.

Of course, to receive workers’ compensation benefits, your claim must be approved. Part of this requires a panel of six doctors who will verify your medical condition and treatment. Sometimes, despite your pain and physical limitations, your claim will be denied. 

The best way to avoid or fight a denial is with a construction accident attorney from John Foy & Associates. With an intricate understanding of construction laws, building codes, and workers’ compensation regulations, your lawyer will prepare and file your claim or appeal a denial.

Pursuing a Third-Party Personal Injury Lawsuit

Workers’ compensation may not provide enough coverage to sustain you and your household as you recover. If you are permanently disabled, you may be eligible for long-term payments, but your care and expenses may still exceed what you receive. To hold negligent third parties accountable for the damages you have suffered, you may need to pursue a third-party personal injury lawsuit.

For a successful outcome to a personal injury case, you must prove the at-fault party owed you a duty of care or an obligation to keep you safe. Then, you must demonstrate the party breached that duty in some fashion and that the breach led to the accident that caused your injuries and losses. While you may not be able to sue your employer, there are other parties who owe construction workers this duty of care.

A skilled construction accident attorney will investigate the circumstances of your accident to identify the responsible party.  

Equipment Manufacturers

Construction workers use heavy machinery and sharp and often motorized equipment every day. They also rely on safety equipment to protect them. Equipment manufacturers are responsible for producing equipment that works properly, has appropriate and required safety features, and comes with appropriate warning labels or instructions.

Defective equipment can cause lacerations, amputations, burns, exposure to toxic chemicals, falls, and other injuries.  

Vehicle Manufacturers and Inspectors

Construction vehicles are complex machines designed to move earth, roll hot pavement, demolish structures, excavate, mix and pour cement, or transport thousands of pounds of debris or equipment from one place to another. 

Workers on the ground may be run over if they are outside the driver’s view or if a driver loses control of the heavy vehicle. The various systems within the vehicle also create opportunities for limbs or even whole bodies to be caught and mangled even when the vehicles are in safe operational condition.

Vehicle manufacturers are responsible for ensuring the safety of construction vehicles, just as equipment manufacturers are responsible for producing safe equipment. Further, construction vehicles must undergo regular and thorough inspections. If inspectors should have reasonably noticed a problem but did not, and that problem causes your injury, the vehicle inspector may hold culpability.

Other Construction Companies

Sometimes, several construction companies may work at one site. For example, one company may handle floor tiling, and another install electrical systems. If a worker or the general contractor for the electrical company creates a situation causing injury, perhaps electrocution, to a floor tiler, the floor tiler may be able to sue that contractor or company.

Construction Site Owners

In some cases, you may be able to sue the property or construction site owner. Property owners have a responsibility to tell you about dangers they know exist on the property. For example, if you are putting a new roof on a property and the owner knows there are several wasps’ nests in the area where you will work, the owner must inform you of this danger. 

If the owner does not tell you about this known danger, and you are severely injured as a result, the property owner may be liable for damages.

Architects and Engineers

Construction workers act according to the designs created by architects and engineers. Errors in these designs can lead to catastrophes, such as collapsing floors or walls. 

Civil engineers ensure construction projects meet health and safety standards. They are also responsible for recognizing and resolving issues that arise during the project’s design and development phases.

Who Can Injured Bystanders Sue for a Construction Accident?

Sometimes, innocent bystanders are injured in a construction accident. You may be hit by a construction vehicle while driving through a construction zone, injured by debris when walking by a site, or crushed when inferior scaffolding collapses as you pass under it. 

In these scenarios or others like them, there may be several parties to hold accountable for compensation. As a non-worker, there are no restrictions on who you can sue. However, to prove negligence, you must be sure to hold the right party or parties accountable and should have a construction accident attorney conduct a full investigation of your situation.

We Fight Hard so You Can Rest Easy

Recovering from a construction accident is hard, but collecting the settlement you deserve does not have to be. With a construction accident lawyer from John Foy & Associates representing you, navigating the legal system for you, and negotiating with your best interests in mind, you can rest easy, having confidence that your attorney is fighting hard for your financial relief and a just case outcome.