Workers' Compensation

When an employee suffers an injury in a construction accident or any other type of workplace accident, in addition to experiencing the physical pain of the injury, the employee often also suffers financial distress. Construction accident injuries are often serious including a brain injury, broken bones, exposure to toxins, burns, injuries to the head, or a spinal cord injury. Treatment for the injury can result in significant medical expenses. A serious injury may render the employee unable to return to work for an extended time period. In some cases the employee becomes permanently disabled, negatively impacting his or her ability to earn an income. Not only is the employee affected by the financial losses, but his or her entire family is impacted as well. Fortunately, in New York injured workers are entitled to receive compensation for losses through the employer's workers' compensation insurance. However, despite the availability of workers’ compensation benefits, you may find that you are in need of a New York Injury Lawyer to ensure that your rights are protected. If you have been injured in the workplace it is important that you immediately contact an experienced Bronx Workers’ Compensation Accident Lawyer who will review your case and help you pursue the maximum compensation to which you are entitled.

Under New York workers' compensation law all employers are required to carry worker's compensation insurance. Thus if a worker gets hurt at work, the employer is required to pay workers' compensation benefits. Workers' compensation benefits include medical care, temporary disability benefits, permanent disability benefits, supplemental job displacement benefits, and death benefits to the employee's spouse or children. The program is administered by the New York Workers’ Compensation Board.

In order to receive workers' compensation benefits, the injured employee must follow certain procedures. As soon as possible after the accident, the injured worker must report the injury to his or her employer. The worker must seek medical treatment. There may be a specific facility to which the worker must go. When getting treatment, the victim should let the healthcare provider know that the injury or illness was job related.

Under New York law workers' compensation benefits are the "exclusive remedy" for an injured employee. This means that an injured employee is entitled only to workers' compensation benefits and is generally barred from attempting to collect additional compensation through a common law personal injury lawsuit. The practical effect of this provision is that it limits the amount of money that an injured worker would be able to recover to whatever workers' compensation provides, which is likely significantly less than what a victim might be able to recover in a personal injury lawsuit. For example, if a worker wins a personal injury lawsuit, the worker could be awarded medical bills, disability benefits, job replacement benefits or wrongful death benefits. The worker may also be awarded additional compensation including damages for pain and suffering.

However, despite the exclusive remedy provision, injured employees do not always have to settle for only benefits from workers' compensation insurance. It depends on the type of accident that led to the injury and who was negligent. For example, if a workplace injury was caused by a defective product, the manufacturer of the product may be liable. The injured worker may then be able to receive workers' compensation benefits and also file a product liability lawsuit against the manufacturer of the product to recover additional damages. If the workplace accident was due to the negligence not of your employer, but due to the negligence of a third party, you may be able to sue the third party in a personal injury lawsuit.

If you are injured at work the remedies available to you and the amount of compensation you may be entitled to receive will depend on a number of different variables. It is therefore critical for you to contact an experienced workers' compensation attorney who can discuss the facts of your case with you and determine a course of action that will give you the best possible result. The staff at Stephen Bilkis and Associates, PLLC has experience handling workplace injury cases and workers' compensation claims. Contact us at 800.696.9529 to schedule a free, no obligation consultation regarding your case.