San Antonio Construction Accident Lawyer

You Have Legal Rights after a Work-Related Construction Injury in San Antonio

The Alamo City is always in a state of non-stop construction. But with so much being built and the natural danger inherent to construction sites, there are bound to be accidents and injuries. It’s inevitable. What happens after you’re injured on the construction job site?

We hope you’ll recover quickly and be able to return to work. But who pays for your injuries, lost time or, heaven forbid, benefits owed because you’re permanently disabled, or your family if your loved one was killed in a construction accident?

How to handle your claim or civil injury case after a construction site accident depends upon the actual details of your case and the events leading up to the mishap. You need to know whether or not the company you work for had workers’ compensation insurance, which affords some reimbursement for medical expenses, lost wages, pain and suffering. But you also need to know what to do if the contractor or subcontractor you work for is not covered by workers’ comp. And you need to know whether, in the eyes of the law, you are an employee or merely a contractor. Your ability to obtain compensation depends on the answer to each one of these three questions that you can only get from a San Antonio construction accident lawyer.

Resolving construction workers’ compensation cases is frequently very complex due to these three factors mentioned above, as well as others that may influence any construction injury case. Furthermore, the occasional ambiguities of some of our laws permit employers and their insurance providers to find loopholes in those laws to unfairly refuse the rightful claims of thousands of injured construction workers every year who may not be aware of those complications. It’s almost certain that inexperienced lawyers will fail to secure a maximum work-injury settlement in construction accident cases. And it’s virtually inevitable that those with no legal experience who insist on representing themselves in such matters are doomed to failure.

San Antonio construction accident lawyer Michael Grossman and his professional team at Grossman Law Offices have invested over 20 years of their lives to fairly resolve injury claims and civil cases on behalf of injured construction workers. We use our expertise to help you clearly understand the laws involved and all legal avenues open to you after a construction accident-related injury. And we are just as adept at representing surviving aggrieved family members when a construction worker has been killed on the job site. We believe that honesty is the best policy in sharing all the challenges you must overcome, and help you make the best-informed decisions in the interests of your family, something your employer or his or her insurance company probably won’t do, the moment the accident occurs.

Employers are exclusively concerned with protecting their own assets. Some construction companies will attempt to hide whether or not they have workers’ comp insurance. Often, they will make the most of evil and misleading practices to avoid liability for an injured employee. An experienced construction accident lawyer knows how to counter the tricks of your employer, his lawyers, and pushy, underhanded insurance adjusters.

Knowing the Difference between Workers’ Compensation Subscribers and Non-Subscribers is the First Step

Thanks to our lawmakers (who succumbed to insurance company lobbyists) understanding workers’ compensation laws is far from simple. Construction companies are not required by the state of Texas to purchase workers’ comp insurance. So, workers’ comp injury cases are divided into two distinct types that require completely different methods and strategies to resolve. Employers who carry worker’s comp are known as “subscribers.” Those who don’t are “non-subscribers.” In order to know how to proceed with your claim, you must first determine whether or not your employer is a subscriber or a non-subscriber.

Workers’ comp benefits come out of a “pool” of funds that are provided by private insurance carriers who participate in the program. By paying for worker injuries through workers comp’s “umbrella coverage,” pool subscribers are protected from civil lawsuits arising from these injuries. And by denying workers the traditional civil venues of compensation, the rights of employees to be fairly reimbursed are severely compromised because workers comp benefits are generally far below fair-market compensation levels. These “benefit cap” amounts rarely, if ever, fully compensate employees involved in workers’ comp-covered claims.

If your employer subscribes to workers’ comp, it does provide some financial relief to employees who are injured on the job site. It’s basically “no fault” insurance because those covered by workers’ comp are reimbursed, no matter how the accident occurred or whose fault it was. But in exchange for that no fault coverage, the amount of money you receive doesn’t always cover the total expenses of an on the job injury. And we’ll go over that in a bit.

Workers’ comp insurance-subscribing employers get far more then just pool coverage and lower benefit payments. They are virtually bulletproof when it comes to lawsuits. Unless your employer has committed gross (or willful) negligence resulting in wrongful death, the subscriber-employer cannot be sued if that loved one has been killed due to a work-related death. Willful negligence that produces a death is the only exception. And under the best circumstances, unless the facts of the case are clearly overwhelming, gross negligence can be very difficult to prove. So in the event of wrongful death claims relative to workers’ comp, whichever contributing insurance company is responsible for negotiating a settlement; again, with benefit caps, the odds are highly unlikely that the victim, or the victim’s survivors if a death has occurred, will receive the equitable compensation to which they are entitled.

Since construction is such a dangerous business, one would think all companies would be smart and purchase workers’ comp insurance. But the same people who choose to run the risk of not having workers’ comp are the same who will stand out in an open Texas prairie during a hailstorm and be confident they won’t get hurt. A lot of Texas construction contractors (and sub contractors) role the dice and risk being a workers’ comp non-subscriber. Then, when the odds catch-up with them, they try to avoid a lawsuit when one of their workers is injured by saying they have workers’ comp when they don’t. These employers may try to quickly pay you benefits you would receive from workers’ comp, and ask you to sign what they represent as a “standard release” in order to further their deception and avoid a non-subscriber lawsuit.

In order to receive restitution from a non-subscriber to workers’ comp, an injury victim must file a lawsuit. Fortunately, for the injured party, the laws that are in place to encourage companies to subscribe to that “no fault” workers’ comp insurance’s lower standards of proving subscriber negligence, also apply against a non-subscriber in a civil case. So if you can file a claim or lawsuit against a non-subscriber, it’s much easier to appraise true liability against that employer, general contractor or subcontractor for accidents on the construction job site due to that lower proof of negligence standard.

An experienced San Antonio construction accident lawyer can get to the bottom of your company’s workers’ comp status, so you know what legal recourse is available to you. Once we have identified the nature of your employer’s workman’s compensation standing, our attorneys will know how to process your case.

Alternative Injury Revenue Sources to Workers’ Compensation

There are two possible avenues to receiving injury compensation outside the purview of workers’ comp. We’ve mentioned that one of these exceptions involves a construction worker’s fatality. The other exception essentially circumvents the workers’ comp process by allowing the injured employee to file a suit against someone other than the subscribing employer, known as a third-party, if an investigation proves that third parties were involved.

If your love one’s death occurred while working on the construction site and the accident was a direct result of the gross negligence by your employer, then you may file a wrongful death lawsuit in San Antonio or anywhere in Central and South Texas. In one case, our attorneys were hired by the loved ones of a construction worker who died after a fall from a crane. The employer had ordered the worker atop the crane without the mandatory safety harness. And when the man plummeted to his death, the employer went to a construction supply store, purchased a safety harness and attached it to the dead man before the fatality was reported. Our attorneys were able to reveal this willful deception by interviewing the co-workers, and we made the employer pay.

Third-party claims and lawsuits arise when someone beside 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 the injury, then the manufacture may be held accountable through a defective product lawsuit. If the owner of the property did not provide safe working conditions, then he or she could be held accountable. If a contractor or another employee negligently caused the injury, then they could be held accountable.

In such cases, you can sue the responsible party or parties, but not your workers’ comp-subscribing employer. Experience, and the ability to properly investigate not only the accident scene but the roles these third parties played in the construction accident is required in order to determine all parties responsible and make them pay for the injuries they caused. A skillful San Antonio construction accident lawyer can devise a plan of attack for construction injury cases that offer the best opportunity to secure compensation in a complex Texas work-related claim like this.

But Workers’ Comp Non-Subscriber Employers Who Are Liable for Injuries Are Fair Game

Anyone who has been in the construction business for more than a week knows it is liberally populated with cheap employers who try to cut corners whenever possible. And workers’ comp insurance, even if it costs less than traditional commercial insurance, is still quite expensive due to the intrinsic danger of the construction industry itself. So it comes as no surprise that many employers choose not purchase workers’ comp. If you are to receive the compensation you deserve from these non-subscribing employers, you certainly need the assistance of a skilled construction accident attorney to file a lawsuit and see it through in order to receive fair compensation.

It begins when the victim, also known as the plaintiff, files a claim with the employer, notifying him or her of the injury and the restitution the victim expects as fair reimbursement. The employer can agree, which seldom happens. They usually hand the matter over to their insurance company which either tries to negotiate a settlement, or dispute the plaintiff’s allegations. If negotiations progress in-good-faith, then the case is settled and you can resume your regular life with all your bills paid and all your lost income (past, present and future) reimbursed. But often, work-related injury cases are contested and the plaintiff must file a lawsuit to win the compensation he or she deserves. As the injured party, the plaintiff holds the burden for proving that the employer’s negligence caused the injury, resulting in those high medical bills, lost salary, pain and suffering.

Turn the Tables on Workplace Injury Defendants When They Try to Turn the Tables on You

If your employer is a workers’ comp insurance non-subscriber, but has private coverage, then he or she isn’t likely to suddenly change his or her nature and agree to pay you for the harm you’ve suffered due to that negligence. That’s because the insurance company doesn’t want your employer to do that, and paying a claim will certainly produce even higher coverage rates for your construction company owner. Our experience in these matters has revealed that most non-subscribers, their insurance companies and attorneys try to use one of a couple of typical defenses to avoid paying injured employees the restitution they deserve.

The only true liability defense afforded non-subscribers after an employee suffers an injury is to prove the sole proximate cause defense. This means that the victim was totally to blame for his or her own injuries. In order to invoke the sole proximate cause defense, non-subscribing employers will literally add insult to your injuries and soil your reputation by proving you were a careless or irresponsible employee and caused your own injuries. And since insurance companies and are very experienced, and their attorneys very shrewd, when it comes to fighting your claim or civil case, you need your own cunning construction accident attorney to turn the tables of liability back on the negligent employer.

Defendants Wiggling out of Liability by Questioning the Employer-Employee Relationship

The sole proximate cause defense is not the only way non-subscribers have to avert liability after an injury has been suffered by an employee. Many clever employers anticipate avoiding responsibility even before accidents occur by saying you are technically not an employee, and claim the issue of compensation is therefore moot. Construction companies are not responsible for injuries that befall their contractors. So many of them hire their employees and say they’re contractors when that is not always the case. But by saying this, your employer believes he can deny that an employer-employee relationship existed between you and his or her company, and deny your claim on that technicality. The logic is simple, why should they be responsible for an injury to a person who was never their employee?

While many San Antonio construction companies claim they hire their employees as contractors or as temp workers through a third-party, a lot of times the employer knows full-well that an actual employer-employee relationship exists and an injured worker can still obtain compensation. So don’t be misled by this ruse. Even though your employer claims you are a contractor, you may in-fact be an employee, and entitled to recover compensation for injuries suffered on the job.

A skillful and well-seasoned San Antonio construction accident lawyer knows how to disprove this employer ruse and confirm the employer-employee relationship by meeting at least one the following standards:

• Social security or taxes have been withheld from your paycheck by the employer.
• The essential equipment for the job was supplied to you by the employer.
• Your work has been regularly managed, overseen or inspected by your employer.
• A specific work schedule has been set for the job by the employer. You are not free to come-and-go as you please.
• Your employer requires you to complete a task or sign a document that limits your rights while working for the employer. The most common examples are taking a drug test or signing a document that states you comply with an employee handbook.
• You have been employed for an undetermined period of time and not just for a single job.
• You are paid by a salary or an hourly wage and not on a job-by-job basis.

In cases where a worker is borrowed from another company, or a third-party agency, the rules for determining the working relationship are related, but there can be some crucial differences. Some of these conditions may include:

• Does the borrowed worker’s employee have the right to hire or fire this worker? If the borrowing employer has the power to hire or fire a borrowed worker at any time, the worker is clearly an employee. Otherwise, the worker is a contractor
• Does the borrowing employer have the right to select a specific worker? Most of the time, if the borrowing employer is allowed to pick a particular worker, then the worker is an employee. If the agency that provides the worker is allowed to send any worker they choose, the worker is a contractor.
• Is the borrowed worker responsible for providing his or her own tools? This answer is the same when it comes to tools and equipment. If the worker must provide them, that person is a contractor. If the employer provides them, the worker is an employee.
• Can the agency lending the worker substitute another worker anytime? If the agency can substitute the borrowed worker for another at-will, the worker is a contractor. If the lending agency cannot, then the worker is an employee.
• Is the employer borrowing the worker for an unspecified length of time? If the worker is borrowed indefinitely, then the worker is an employee. If the worker is borrowed for a specific project with a specific date of completion, the worker is a contractor.
• Is the worker “borrowed” because of a particular professional skill? If a worker is being borrowed or “leased” because of a skill that is unique or hard-to-find, then the worker is a contractor. But on the other hand, if an employer borrows a worker to fill a position that just about anyone can fill, then the worker is an employee.
• Does the borrowing employer accept responsibility for paying the worker’s income tax and social security? If the borrowing employer agrees to pay the worker’s social security and income tax, then the worker is an employee. If the borrowing employer does not accept this responsibility, then the worker is a contractor.

Our lawyers conduct a thorough investigation to demonstrate the existence of one of these standards and prove an employer-employee relationship existed for you. We will depose co-workers, review contracts and examine pay stubs to establish that you were in fact an employee when you suffered an on-the-job injury.

Those Vicious Insurance Company Opponents in a Construction Accident Liability Case

In all non-subscriber and third party construction injury claims defendants can have large insurance companies with lots of good attorneys to oppose you. Or your employer will be “self-insured” or uninsured. And all fight just as hard to avoid paying for your workplace injuries.

Non-subscribers’ insurance companies have attorneys either on staff or permanent retainer. They are very good defenders of insurance companies against claimants like you who try to sue them. Insurance companies are confrontational but don’t always win, especially when you have an experienced attorney who knows every trick they pull, and how to counter it.

But as bad as the insurance companies can be in a construction injury claim or lawsuit, self-insured employers who are liable for workplace injuries, or those who have no insurance whatsoever, use every trick in the book once an injured worker takes legal action against them to recover damages. Some of those tricks are reprehensible and others are downright illegal.

You will probably be dealing directly with an officer if the self-insured construction company is a small one. This person’s salary is tied directly to the company’s profits. Any amount paid to you for an injury comes directly out of company funds (or a bond if they have one). So by compensating you, your employer literally takes money out his own pocket. We are rarely surprised when a sneaky, self-insured company officer uses any and all means to oppose your claim in order to protect his company’s, and personal, assets.

Self-insured companies can deliberately dispose of evidence as well bribe or intimidate witnesses, even you. They sometimes resort to physical threats. This is why every time we represent a client against a self-insured company, the first thing we do is to file motions in court to prevent anyone within the company from behaving inappropriately against our clients. Sometimes these motions include clear demands that they make no attempt to communicate with our clients in any way without one of our attorneys present.

OSHA Is of Little Use in an Injury Liability Claim or Legal Case

Maybe you are familiar with the federal Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA). This agency maintains minimum standards of safety for all American employers. And you might think OSHA will help you attain compensation. Nothing could be further from the truth. OSHA is not an advocate for injured workers. All it does is oversee the worker environment in the U.S. And for the past 25 years, OSHA regulations, and the fines levied for employer non-compliance, have lost many of their teeth.

While OSHA sets safety standards in the workplace and fines transgressors, the amounts were set long ago and no longer carry the proper financial motivation to convince safety violators to comply with these government standards. Many of these fine amounts were established so long ago. And though they might have encouraged compliance back then, inflation and other economic factors have reduced OSHA fines to no more than a slap on the wrist. Additionally, over the years laws have been passed that encroach on OSHA’s ability to investigate by reducing the agency’s staff and limiting its budget. Today, OSHA has been all but emasculated when it comes to preventing on-the-job injuries before they happen.

Even if OSHA does investigate your employer after your accident, they will provide no specific evidence that will benefit your case. Only a competent, experienced San Antonio construction accident lawyer can help you secure the fair compensation to which you are entitled.

What You Need to Do (and Not do) Right Now

Did You Know?

Our San Antonio construction accident attorneys have won thousands of cases. Call us today to discuss your case. 1-855-393-0000

The first thing you need to understand is this. Before you speak with an insurance company, or accept even a single dollar of payment or compensation from your employer, or sign anything, or attempt to file a lawsuit on your own, you must contact a competent lawyer.

Your employer or its insurance provider wants you to accept an inadequate settlement, so they can save their money. Don’t be taken advantage of. In addition, it’s never a good idea to discuss any details of your intentions, or anything else surrounding the injury, with your employer or his or insurer, or even your co-workers without a lawyer protecting your interests.

Then, you must realize the critical importance of acting swiftly. In construction accident cases, the evidence begins to fade immediately following the accident. The physical details of the accident scene change quickly, as construction sites are in a constant state of building and change. In less than a week that evidence can be at the bottom of three feet of concrete. And witnesses change their stories, or forget what they saw, or have even been paid to forget. If you wait too long to hire an attorney and put your lawyer on the trail of evidence, then you are doing irreparable damage to your ability to win the restitution you deserve.

An experienced San Antonio construction accident lawyer with Grossman Law Offices will help injured construction workers deal with their challenging work-injury cases in San Antonio, Central and South Texas. We have spent over 20 years accumulating the expertise required to help injured construction workers receive the compensation they deserve. Put our experience to work for you. If you want to know what your rights are, how to proceed with your claim and how much compensation you can secure, then we can answer your questions. Call Grossman Law Offices now at 1-855-393-0000 (toll free), or fill out the form at the top of this page for a free consultation and find out how we can help you.