San Antonio Work Accident Attorney

San Antonio, Texas Work Injury Lawyer Michael Grossman Explains What to Expect in a Work-Related Accident Injury Claim

If you have been injured on the job, you are probably wondering what legal options you have available for seeking the compensation you need. If you have researched your prospects, you have probably seen references to workers’ compensation insurance, subscriber and non-subscriber cases, work injury law, and the contractor-employer vs. employee-employer working relationship.

Understandably, all these considerations can be somewhat overwhelming. Thankfully, experienced San Antonio work accident attorney Michael Grossman is here to explain exactly what options you have available, and, if necessary, fight aggressively to defend your rights in trial.

Causes of Accidents

Work injuries can take on a variety of different forms, depending on the industry. Construction is particularly dangerous line of work, where workers can be injured due to faulty or poorly-maintained equipment, careless workers or supervisors, motorists or other non-workers, or any number of other factors. Lawsuits filed in these cases often involve numerous complexities, including multiple defendants, a convoluted worker-employer relationship, and workers’ compensation issues.

But other industries can be dangerous as well. Industrial and factory work obviously holds some risk for employees on the floor, working with conveyor belts and other heavy machinery. In these cases, employees can be injured due to faulty machinery, negligent workers, an unsafe working environment, or lack of proper training – among other things.

A grocery store worker might be asked to lift heavy items onto high shelves and suffer a muscle injury, or an office employee might slip and fall on a wet floor that was not properly marked. When people think of work injury, they often jump straight to construction and other related fields. But the truth is that virtually every single job can pose some risk if employers and other employees do not consider their own and other people’s safety, and make sure that they are not putting other people at risk.

Even in situations where a worker is seemingly injured by his or her own incompetence or inexperience, the worker’s employer might be at fault. For example, consider a theoretical case wherein an 18 wheeler driver takes a sharp turn too quickly and rolls over, seriously injuring himself in the crash. Even assuming that the wreck was solely because the driver took the turn too fast, it is not necessarily true that the driver is 100% liable for his injuries. In many trucking accident cases that my firm has investigated, we have found that the trucking company did not properly train some or all of their drivers on how to operate a large truck safely. Employers are responsible for teaching their workers how to operate the equipment they will be using. When employers neglect this responsibility, they can be held liable for the injuries their workers receive while using that equipment, even if the accident happened because of the worker’s mistake.

What is Workers’ Compensation Insurance, and What Does it Have to do With my Legal Options?

Workers’ comp was created by the Texas Workers’ Compensation Act established in 1993. This act provides insurance that employers can purchase to protect themselves from lawsuits filed by their employees. It is important to keep in mind that workers’ compensation insurance protects employers, not workers. If an employer subscribes to workers’ compensation insurance (called a subscriber), then workers injured on the job while working for that employer receive money from the insurance claim if they are hurt on the job. In almost all cases, how you got hurt is irrelevant. If it was on the job, you’re covered.

But this is not necessarily a good thing. Workers’ compensation claims typically pay for an injured employee’s medical expenses and lost wages while you cannot work, but only up to 70% of your income, not to exceed $600 per week. This means that, if you previously earned $800 per week, you will receive $560 per week. If you previously received $2000 per week, you will only receive $600 per week for as long as you are unable to work. In some cases, there is an additional lump sum payment at the end of your claim, but it usually grossly inadequate.

In other words, a worker injured while working for a subscriber has some advantages (primarily that you are almost guaranteed to receive some compensation), but the amount of money you might receive is severely limited – and you have no option to sue for personal injury.

Non-subscriber Cases

Many employers, however, choose not to subscribe to workers’ compensation insurance. This is especially common in dangerous industries (like construction), where workers’ compensation insurance would be expensive. In almost all of these situations, employers choose not to subscribe because they think they have beaten the system.

On the surface, Texas law states that only employees can sue an employer if they are injured on the job. Contractors, freelancers, and other temporary employees (ostensibly, at least) are not eligible to file a lawsuit. Many employers are aware of this, and so they will hire almost exclusively contractors and temp workers, thinking that this allows them to escape any legal liability and avoid paying for workers’ compensation insurance.

Fortunately for you, this is not the case. As Texas case law shows, certain conditions in a working relationship can signal an employee-employer relationship, even if the worker originally signed on as a contractor. For instance, if an employer dictates when the worker starts and stops working, if the employer provides the worker’s equipment, or if the worker is employed for an indefinite amount of time, then the worker may be legally considered an employee. Other factors can establish an employer-employee relationship as well. Our work accident attorneys have a broad understanding of work injury law, and we are able to quickly determine whether or not you can be considered an employee, and thus whether or not you are able to file a work injury lawsuit.

What Options do I Have Available?

Even in cases where an injured worker is truly a contractor, he or she may have legal options available. For example, if a contractor is hurt using a piece of equipment (a forklift at a warehouse, for instance), that worker may not be able to sue his employer if the employer subscribes to workers’ compensation or if the worker is truly a contractor. But it may be the case that the worker was hurt because the forklift he was using was defective, in which case the worker could bring a lawsuit against the forklift’s manufacturer in addition to receiving money from workers’ compensation insurance.

The bottom line is that you may have a case, even if you think you do not. My firm has helped hundreds of people who thought they had a subscriber case (either due to their employers misleading them or just general confusion about workers’ compensation insurance), when in reality, they had a non-subscriber case, and we were able to pursue their employer for a significant sum of money. Even if you think you do not have a case, even if other attorneys have told you that you do not have a case, contact our firm. We have an in-depth understanding of work injury law, and we will conduct a thorough investigation of your situation in order to identify every possible defendant in your case. If there is a way we can help you secure the compensation you deserve, we will find it. Our firm has been helping injured workers for twenty years, and we are dedicated to doing everything we can to get you and your family back on your feet. So if you or a loved one has been hurt on the job, contact San Antonio work accident attorney Michael Grossman at Grossman Law Offices today.