Content reviewed by:
Alex Shulman
A construction injury can affect your body, income, trade, and family within minutes. When the injury happens on a jobsite, you need legal action that addresses both workers’ compensation and any lawsuit allowed under New York law.
Our Greenburgh construction accident lawyers at Shulman & Hill have represented injured construction workers across New York since our founding in 2013. We have recovered more than $1 billion for injured New Yorkers and bring more than 200 years of combined experience to serious work injury claims.
If you were hurt on a construction site, contact Shulman & Hill for a free consultation with a Greenburgh workers’ compensation lawyer.
Your Rights Under New York Construction Law
Most injured construction workers in New York can seek workers’ compensation benefits without proving fault. Workers’ compensation may pay for medical care and a portion of lost wages when a job injury keeps you from working or limits what you can earn.
Construction workers may also have a separate lawsuit against someone other than their direct employer. On many worksites, New York Labor Law allows claims against owners, general contractors, and their agents when safety duties are violated.
These claims may involve:
- Labor Law § 200, which addresses unsafe work conditions and supervision.
- Labor Law § 240(1), often called the Scaffold Law, for certain height-related hazards.
- Labor Law § 241(6), for violations of specific construction safety rules.
- Negligence claims against subcontractors, drivers, equipment companies, or property parties.
Workers’ compensation and a third-party lawsuit are different claims. Our Greenburgh personal injury lawyers examine both, so no available legal path is missed.
Types of Cases Our Greenburgh Construction Accident Lawyers Handle
Greenburgh construction sites can involve road work, commercial builds, school projects, residential construction, utility work, demolition, and renovation. Each site has different contractors, safety duties, and insurance carriers.
We handle claims involving:
- Falls from ladders, roofs, scaffolds, lifts, and elevated platforms.
- Falls through floor openings or unguarded edges.
- Falling objects, tools, debris, and construction materials.
- Trench, excavation, and wall collapses.
- Crane, forklift, hoist, and heavy equipment accidents.
- Electrocution and utility strikes.
- Defective tools, saws, lifts, harnesses, or machinery.
- Work-zone vehicle crashes.
- Fires, explosions, and toxic exposure.
- Repetitive strain from heavy labor over time.
The cause of the accident affects which laws apply and which parties may be legally responsible.
Workers’ Compensation Benefits After a Construction Injury
Workers’ compensation can provide medical treatment for a covered job injury or illness. In an emergency, get care right away. For follow-up care, New York usually requires treatment with a provider authorized by the Workers’ Compensation Board.
Benefits may include the following:
- Doctor visits
- Surgery
- Imaging and diagnostic testing
- Physical therapy
- Medication
- Medical equipment
- Travel reimbursement for approved medical visits
- Lost-wage benefits
- Permanent disability benefits
- Death benefits for eligible family members
Lost-wage benefits are generally based on two-thirds of your average weekly wage multiplied by your degree of disability, subject to the state maximum. The maximum benefit amount changes each July 1.
Temporary and Permanent Disability Benefits
A construction injury may affect your work in stages. At first, you may be unable to work at all, but then later, your doctor may clear you for light duty, fewer hours, or lower-paying work. Your benefits should match your medical restrictions and your actual wage loss.
Temporary Disability Benefits
Temporary disability benefits may apply while you are still healing. These benefits are based on your average weekly wage and the degree of disability found in your medical records.
You may qualify for temporary wage benefits if:
- Your injury keeps you fully out of work.
- Your doctor limits you to light duty and your employer has no suitable work.
- You return to work but earn less because of your injury.
- Your restrictions prevent you from performing your regular trade duties.
Permanent Disability Benefits
Permanent disability benefits may apply when your condition has stabilized, and your doctor finds lasting impairment. In New York, this point is known as maximum medical improvement.
A permanent injury may be handled in one of two ways:
- Schedule Loss of Use: This may apply to lasting impairment of certain body parts, including the shoulder, arm, hand, wrist, hip, leg, knee, ankle, foot, vision, or hearing.
- Non–schedule classification: This may apply to injuries involving the spine, head, lungs, or other conditions that reduce your long-term wage-earning ability.
Our Greenburgh construction accident attorneys review your medical findings, work restrictions, wage records, and job duties before any disability rating or settlement is accepted.
Third-Party Lawsuits and Pain and Suffering Compensation
Workers’ compensation can pay medical benefits and part of your lost wages, but it does not pay for pain and suffering. That is one of the biggest limits of a workers’ compensation claim.
A third-party lawsuit may allow you to pursue additional damages when someone other than your direct employer is legally responsible for the accident. In a construction case, that may include a property owner, general contractor, subcontractor, equipment company, or other responsible party.
Through a third-party lawsuit, you may be able to seek compensation for:
- Physical pain.
- Emotional distress.
- Loss of enjoyment of life.
- Full past and future lost wages.
- Reduced earning capacity.
- Future medical needs.
- Permanent disability.
- Scarring or disfigurement.
- Loss of services or support in fatal injury cases.
Why Injured Construction Workers Choose Shulman & Hill
Shulman & Hill has built its practice around injured New Yorkers, including construction workers facing serious injuries and disputed claims. We understand New York Labor Law, the Scaffold Law, workers’ compensation hearings, and the insurance issues that follow a job site injury.
We are not a high-volume practice built on rushed claims. We focus on proof, pressure, and results. Our team has served more than 26,000 clients and recovered more than $1 billion for injured people across New York.
We can meet virtually, in person, or travel for consultations when needed. Every Borough, Every Block, New York, We Got You.
Speak With a Greenburgh Construction Accident Attorney
A construction accident can change your ability to work, earn, and support your family. Shulman & Hill can review your workers’ compensation claim, investigate whether a third-party lawsuit is available, and take action against the parties responsible under New York law.
If you were injured on a construction site, contact us today for a free consultation with a construction accident attorney in Greenburgh.