Have you been hurt in a building collapse on a construction site or lost a loved one? Structural failures may not be common, but they often cause serious or fatal injuries to multiple people. You deserve the best possible legal representation to pursue compensation from all avenues to safeguard your financial future.
Goidel and Siegel are prepared to fight on your behalf with more than 30 years of legal experience handling construction accident cases. Call our law office today for a free case review with a New York building collapse lawyer who cares about you.
Catastrophic structural failures are more common than many would believe. When a building collapses, it is often construction workers who are hurt.
One of the worst New York City building collapses in recent history was the 2014 East Harlem gas explosion. When a gas leak sparked an explosion in the East Village, two apartment buildings collapsed, killing eight, injuring 70, and displacing nearly 100 families.
In 2019, a four-story apartment building being constructed killed a construction worker and injured five in the Bronx when the third floor caved in. On a single day in 2020, a vacant building in Midtown partially collapsed while, just blocks away, three workers were hurt and one was killed in a scaffolding collapse.
Nationwide, 20% of all workplace fatalities happen on construction sites. A single year saw 781 construction workers killed in workplace accidents. Of these deaths, 32 happened when workers were stuck in or crushed in a collapsing building.
Structural failure does not happen for no reason. Many factors may be to blame for a building collapse, and it is common for multiple parties to share blame.
New York building collapse can be the result of:
Your accident will likely require an in-depth investigation to determine the cause of the collapse. Several agencies may oversee this investigation, and we will also work to gather evidence.
A building collapse can leave construction workers with life-changing and catastrophic injuries. The families of the injured construction workers also experience the impact of the accident on their lives. After your accident, you deserve fair compensation from all parties that share blame.
The primary source of compensation after a construction accident is workers’ compensation. This no-fault insurance program allows workers to recover:
While you should pursue a workers’ compensation claim, it comes with drawbacks. You cannot seek compensation for your personal losses like your pain, suffering, anguish, and loss of enjoyment of life. Limits on wage and disability benefits also mean you may not be fully compensated.
If you or a loved one have been injured in a building collapse in New York, contact our experienced and dedicated civil trial attorneys to get you the compensation you deserve!
You may have a claim against negligent third parties who contributed to your accident. This can allow you to recover compensation above and beyond workers’ comp including your full financial losses and non-economic losses.
Many parties may ultimately be found liable for the structural collapse:
New York Labor Law gives injured construction workers additional protection. General contractors and building owners can be held strictly liable for your accident if they violated specific labor laws.
You may have a labor law claim under one of these statutes if the property owner or general contractor violated safety codes. Your claim will not affect your workers’ compensation claim but will actually supplement workers’ comp benefits.
After a building collapse accident, you deserve experienced legal counsel to help you pursue all the compensation you are entitled to. The financial toll of your accident should not be on your shoulders, but the insurance companies are not on your side.
Our law firm has more than 30 years of experience fighting for injured construction workers. We have extensive experience inside and outside the courtroom handling complex workers’ compensation claims, labor law claims, and third-party injury lawsuits. Our multilingual trial lawyers can meet you anywhere you are comfortable to discuss how we can help you.
Contact Goidel and Siegel today for a free consultation with our New York building collapse accident attorneys.
56 W. 45th Street 3rd Floor New York, NY 10036
