New York City Workplace Injury Lawyer
Getting hurt on the job is doubly frustrating – you’re facing a painful injury with costly medical expenses, but you aren’t working and don’t have any way to pay for the care you need, much less meet all your other obligations like food and rent. On the bright side, as an injured worker, you have many avenues open to you to get the financial help you need. On the downside, these systems don’t always work like they are supposed to, forcing you to fight for what should be yours under the law. Attorney Michael A. Delakas can help you in that fight. Michael is an experienced attorney and litigator who is dedicated to helping injured working men and women get the medical care and compensation they need and deserve when they’ve been injured on the job. If you’ve been injured in a workplace accident or otherwise suffered any workplace injury or occupational disease, contact the law office of Michael A. Delakas, Esq. for a free consultation to learn about your options and how we can help.
Workers’ Compensation
If you are an employee working in New York City, you are almost certainly eligible for workers’ compensation after an on-the-job injury. Workers’ compensation is a form of insurance paid for by your employer, and benefits are available without regard to fault. If the accident was caused by a co-worker’s negligence or even if it was your own fault, you should still be entitled to workers’ compensation benefits. These benefits will pay for all of your medical expenses and also pay you two-thirds of your regular wages while you are out of work. Unfortunately, you are limited to recovering these benefits only; you cannot sue your employer for negligence even if they were responsible for your accident.
Even though workers’ comp is supposed to be a sure thing, employers want to keep their premiums from going up due to claims submitted, and insurance companies want to limit how much they have to pay out in claims. To do this, they will often argue that your injury was not work-related and eligible for workers’ comp, or they’ll allege that you weren’t hurt as bad as you say. They might send you to their own doctors who will dispute your doctor’s claims, and they might even hire private investigators to follow you around and dig up “evidence” that you are faking or exaggerating your injuries.
A skilled workplace injuries attorney will help you with all aspects of your New York workers’ compensation claim, including appealing denials if your workers’ comp claim gets turned down, if you aren’t paid the full amount you are owed, or if your benefits get cut off before you are ready to come back to work. Call Michael A. Delakas, Esq. for help with your workers’ compensation claim in New York City.
Third-Party Liability
Oftentimes, a third party will be responsible for a workplace accident. A third party is someone outside the contractual relationship between you (the first party) and your employer (the second party). Examples of third parties who could be liable for a workplace injury include negligent car or truck drivers, property owners who maintain dangerous premises where the work is being performed, or manufacturers of defective tools, equipment, or products used on the job. New York law does allow you to sue these third parties and hold them accountable for the full amount of damages you suffered because of their negligence, including your medical expenses, lost income, and pain and suffering.
Michael Delakas is a skilled and experienced litigator ready and able to bring third-party liability claims and take responsible parties to court if a satisfactory settlement cannot be reached. Also, if you are an independent contractor or otherwise ineligible for workers’ compensation, the law office of Michael A. Delakas, Esq. can work to hold any negligent party accountable to you when their negligence is responsible for your workplace injury.
Scaffold Law Litigation
New York Labor Law sections 240 and 241, commonly referred to as the scaffold law, hold property owners and contractors absolutely liable for falls and other gravity-related or elevation-related accidents that occur during construction projects. The law applies to all contractors and owners and their agents, except for owners of one and two-family dwellings. Activities covered under the scaffold law include erection, demolition, repairing, altering, painting, clearing or pointing a building a structure. The law requires these owners or contractors to furnish or erect whatever scaffolds, hoists, stays, ladders, slings, hangers, blocks, pulleys, braces, irons, ropes or other devices that are needed to give proper protection to workers performing these jobs.
When any gravity-related accident – a fall, scaffold collapse, floor cave-in, getting hit by a falling or rolling object, etc. – occurs in these situations and the owner or contractor didn’t provide adequate protection as required by law, they are liable for all damages related to the injury without regard to who was at fault in causing the accident or injury itself. This law is powerful protection for employees in the construction industry, which is one of the most dangerous yet essential occupations in New York City. Owners, contractors and their insurers fight hard to defeat scaffold law cases on technical grounds and keep them from going to trial. Attorney Michael A. Delakas fights just as hard to win on the law and facts and settle the case for an appropriate amount or take the case to a jury if need be.
Call Michael A. Delakas, Esq. for Help After a Workplace Injury in NYC
If you have been injured on the job in New York City, or if you lost a loved one in a fatal New York construction or workplace accident, call Michael A. Delakas, Esq. for skilled and experienced help getting the medical care and financial compensation you need to deal with the harm done to you. Your call is free, and we only charge a fee after we are successful in getting compensation for you, so contact Michael A. Delakas today by calling 212-321-0232 for immediate assistance.
