For most workers, their job is their livelihood. For many, a work injury could leave you unable to provide for yourself and your family, putting you in dire financial straits. If this is your current situation, you should seek help from an experienced Flushing work injury lawyer right away.
Our attorneys can take your case and fight to get you the compensation you need for lost wages, medical bills, and other damages. In many cases, your right to sue your employer might be limited, be we can fight to find other avenues of recovery that allow you to get the compensation you need.
For a free case review, call The Carrion Law Firm’s Flushing work injury lawyers today. Our phone number is (718) 841-0083.
Getting Compensation for Work Injuries in Flushing, NY
If you were hurt at work, you may think that Workers’ Compensation is your only route to recovery. However, NY law allows many injured workers to sue their employers for special reasons, and other responsible parties can always be held accountable for causing work injuries. For help determining your next moves, work with our Flushing work injury lawyers today.
Lawsuits Against Employers
For most workers classified as “employers” or “independent contractors,” you are unable to sue your employer for an accident at work. In many cases, they might not have done anything wrong in the first place, which means that you should instead file your case against another party who was actually responsible. In other cases, the law simply protects them from lawsuits. However, there are some exceptions.
If your employer was negligent and the conduct fell into certain categories of behavior, you are typically entitled to sue them under New York law. Specifically, the issues covered under L.A.B. Law § 200, 240(1), or 241(6) allow you to sue. These laws create certain health and safety requirements, primarily ones dealing with construction workers (i.e., scaffolding injuries, falling injuries, and demolition-related injuries). Talk to our Flushing work injury lawyers to see if your case qualifies for a lawsuit against your employer under these exceptions.
In rare instances, some independent contractors are not covered by the rules that prevent lawsuits, but this also requires a very fact-specific analysis to determine eligibility.
Third-Party Lawsuits
In most cases, lawsuits against parties other than your employer are allowed for work injuries. This means that if you were injured by a negligent vendor, customer, client, equipment supplier, equipment manufacturer, or even just someone driving near your work site, you could be entitled to sue them.
Accidents are commonly attributed to faulty safety gear, and lawsuits are often allowed against the manufacturers of those faulty products. Additionally, victims of assault and battery while on the job can often sue those individuals. Victims of work-related car accidents can also seek compensation from those negligent drivers.
Consult with our Flushing work injury lawyers to see what parties could potentially be liable for your injuries.
Common Damages for Work Injuries in Flushing, NY
Victims face a range of potential damages caused by work injuries. The goal of damages is to put the victim back in the condition they were in before the accident and to pay them for the harms that cannot be reversed. Traditionally, the law groups damages into two main categories: economic damages and non-economic damages. In addition, punitive damages might be available in some injury cases to punish the defendant rather than to reimburse the victim for the harm they suffered.
Economic Damages
When work injury victims face medical bills, lost wages, and other expenses because of an injury, they can seek economic damages. These damages are paid to reimburse the victim for their expenses and restore them to the same economic condition they were in before the accident.
To find and calculate these damages, our Flushing work injury lawyers look at bills and financial records to determine what expenses were brought on by the accident, what expenses you might still face because of the accident, and what income you will lose because of the accident. Sometimes calculating these damages requires testimony from financial experts and medical experts, which our attorneys can bring in to help with your case.
All in all, these damages will help secure your and your family’s financial future.
Non-Economic Damages
Monetary harms can be set right by simply paying the victim back for the expenses. However, injuries, scars, and mental or emotional trauma cannot be reversed. Nonetheless, work injury victims can claim compensation for these harms to get payments for the pain and suffering and other intangible harms they face because of the accident. These damages are sometimes referred to interchangeably as “pain and suffering” since that is the most common area of non-economic damages. Nonetheless, “mental anguish” and “emotional distress” are sometimes discussed separately.
Calculating non-economic damages is sometimes difficult as these damages have no clear price attached to them. Typically, more severe injuries result in higher pain and suffering damages, but there are more specific calculation methods our Flushing work injury lawyers can help you apply to your case.
Punitive Damages
Punitive damages are not paid to reimburse victims but rather to punish the people that harmed them. Typically, punitive damages are issued against companies and corporations that have been responsible for serious instances of negligence or repeat instances of negligence. The goal of these damages is to essentially pressure them to avoid future wrongdoing and warn other companies against similar actions.
Punitive damages can also be issued against individuals who committed serious instances of negligence, but criminal charges might also be available in these situations. For example, a drunk driver who crashed into a food cart and injured its attendant could face punitive damages and DUI charges to punish them. However, punitive damages will be paid to the victim, whereas sending the defendant to jail does nothing to help the victim financially.
For Help with a Work Injury, Call Our Flushing Work Injury Attorneys Today
If you were hurt at work, call the Flushing work injury lawyers at The Carrion Law Firm today at (718) 841-0083 for help.