Glendale Workplace Injury Lawyer Seeks Personal Injury Damages for Employees

Southern California firm represents workers in third-party claims

When you are hurt on the job, your first stop is to file a workers’ compensation claim. This coverage from your employer reimburses your medical expenses and some lost income without any proof of fault. You should understand that workers’ comp does not replace all your lost earnings and does not compensate you for your pain and suffering. However, you can collect those types of personal injury damages if a third party (not your employer or a co-worker) is liable for your injury. At Geragos Law Group, we represent Southern California workers who have been hurt on the job. Attorney Matthew Geragos draws on more than 30 years of legal experience and fights aggressively for injured workers if they are eligible to bring a personal injury action.  

Common workplace accidents in California

Some occupations are riskier than others, but accidents can happen at any type of job. You might not have to worry about falling from a roof you’re repairing, or getting an arm caught in industrial machinery, but you could suffer a slip and fall in your office or get in a vehicle accident while making a sales call. That said, the most serious workplace accidents occur on construction sites and in factory settings, where workers regularly risk:

  • Falls
  • Electric shock and electrocution
  • Crush injuries from machinery
  • Vehicle accidents
  • Injuries from falling objects
  • Contact with hazardous substances

In our practice, we’ve handled workplace injury cases on behalf of plaintiffs with various medical conditions, such as:

  • Traumatic brain injuries
  • Spinal cord injuries
  • Broken bones
  • Severe burns

Serious injuries can leave a worker permanently disabled. If that worker relies on workers’ compensation, that could mean a loss of more than 30 percent of earnings over many years, or even decades. Moreover, the victim would not receive payment for their physical pain and mental suffering unless they bring a personal injury case.

Exceptions to the rule against suing an employer

You might think that if your employer repeatedly violated OSHA regulations, you would be entitled to sue, especially if there was a connection between the safety violation and your accident. Unfortunately, an OSHA violation does not create a cause of action for workers. However, in California, a worker can sue an employer for a workplace injury under certain circumstances, which can include:

  • Intentional injury — Your boss deliberately caused your injury or induced a co-worker to cause your injury.
  • Fraudulent concealment — Your boss knew that conditions at your workplace would injure you but kept that knowledge from you so you could not protect yourself.
  • Dual capacity — The way your employer hurt you was in a capacity other than as your employer. As an example, if your supervisor asked you to carry their personal items out to their car, you could file a personal injury action if you got hurt due to overexertion. 
  • Uninsured employer — Your employer violated the law by not carrying workers’ compensation insurance.

Our personal injury attorney thoroughly investigates the circumstances of your injury to determine whether your case fits one of these exceptions.

Suing a third party for negligence

Workers’ compensation does not bar you from suing a third party who is not your employer or your co-worker. On construction sites, there are often various subcontractors working on different parts of the project. If, for example, a plumber’s assistant creates a hazard that causes a carpenter working for someone else to fall, the injured carpenter could sue the plumbing company. You might also be able to bring a claim against the maker of a defective product that hurt you on the job.

Contact a California personal injury lawyer for a free workplace accident consultation

Geragos Law Group in Glendale provides legal representation for victims of workplace accidents throughout Southern California. To schedule a free consultation, call 213-652-2129 or contact our office online.