Employers that subscribe to workers’ comp insurance get far more than just pool coverage and lower benefit payments. They can be all but “Teflon-coated” when it comes to becoming a defendant in a civil injury lawsuit. But there is one significant exception.
If an employer has committed gross negligence and if it led to the wrongful death of your loved one, you can sue the employer/worker’s comp subscriber. But proving gross negligence, even under ideal circumstances, and unless you have overwhelming proof, can be very difficult. So whichever workers’ comp participating insurance company is responsible for negotiating a settlement, again – with benefit caps, the odds are still against victim’s survivors that they will receive the equitable compensation they rightfully seek.
If the world was fair, insurance providers would be sensitive to the legitimate needs of injured parties, and construction accident victims would receive fair compensation for all medical bills, lost salary, pain and suffering, and disability, not to mention the additional benefits borne from a wrongful death. But these insurance companies who participate in workers’ comp resist payment, contrary to the benevolent tones of their advertising and public relations campaigns: even the facts send an entirely different message. So it’s often necessary for surviving family members to file a gross negligence lawsuit against the employer in order to recover just damages.
Insurance companies – including those that fund workers’ comp are in business to generate profits. Many times this “prime directive” comes at the expense of helping people with legitimate claims against their policyholders. Many insurance companies are categorically known for trying to avoid fairly compensating injured construction workers each and every year in Texas. Insurers who participate in the state’s workers’ comp insurance pool are just doing what they are always doing. They’re just doing it with the permission of the state legislature.
There actually two possible avenues to receiving injury compensation when workers’ comp is the first resort. One is in the case of construction worker fatality which we’ve just covered; The other allows the injured employee to file a suit against someone other than the subscribing employer, known as a third party. In many cases, someone other than (or in addition to) the employer may have done something negligent to cause the injury suffered by a construction worker on the job site. If a faulty piece of machinery caused grievous wounds, then the manufacturer may be held liable through a defective product lawsuit. If the owner of the property, or the developer, did not provide safe working conditions, then he or she could be a target defendant. If a contractor or another employee who was allowed on the job site negligently caused the injury, then they too could be legally blamed.
In all of these scenarios, you can sue the responsible third party or parties, even if you can’t bring suit against your workers’ comp subscribing employer. And since any third party is not your employer, workers’ comp restrictions do not apply.
Experience and the ability to properly investigate not only the accident scene but the roles all of these third parties played in a construction accident is very important in determining all of the parties responsible in order to make them pay for the injuries they caused. A thorough and skillful construction accident lawyer can fully investigate the accident scene, and quickly: then develop the proper strategy for your construction injury liability case that offers the best opportunity to win compensation in a complex Texas work-related civil action involving workers’ compensation, a one third-party, or a combination of both categories.
The experienced construction accident lawyers with our Law Firm help injured construction workers deal with their challenging work-injury cases. We have spent decades accumulating the expertise required to help you receive the compensation you deserve. Put our experience to work for you. We can tell you your rights, how to proceed with your claim, how much compensation you can secure and aggressively represent your case or claim to its final resolution: be it through successful negotiations or a favorable verdict in civil court.
Call our Law Firm now at 1(800) 862-1260 (toll-free), for a free consultation and find out how we can help you.
This blog was posted by Ford and Laurel Attorneys Laredo, Texas