Construction Injury Liability

Answer:

Last week, a young man came to my office who’d been seriously injured on a construction site. He wanted to know if he could sue his employer. The answer is usually no.If you’re injured on the job in California, workers’ compensation is the sole and exclusive remedy against your employer. However, there are a few exceptions that do exist. If you’ve been injured on the job through the negligence of a third-party that is not your employer you can have a third-party claim. For example, let’s say you are a framer on a construction site and part of the roof comes down on your head because of the negligence of the roofing contractor. That would be an independent third-party that is not employed by your employer and you would have a claim against the roofing company outside of the workers’ compensation system. There are also a few other exceptions that apply that will take an employer out of the workers’ compensation system, but generally, workers’ compensation is the only remedy you will have against an employer. It is always important to consult with an attorney so that they can help you identify all potential parties to any claims that you might have.