Florida Construction Injury Lawyer: Is the World Trade Center construction site cursed?

Brandon Stein

By: Brandon Stein

If you or someone you know was injured in a construction accident, contact our Fort Lauderdale personal injury attorneys today.

We certainly do not need to recount the tragic events of 9/11, nor do we need to relive the devastation that the World Trade Center endured.  Moving forward, a new World Trade building is being constructed, and naturally, issues have arisen during the course of this project.  With any construction project, accidents are inevitable, but for massive projects such as the World Trade, incidents seem to occur more frequently.

This past Wednesday, a fire erupted at the World Trade construction site.  According to reports, the New York Fire Department responded to the scene after being notified that a storage container at the site had become engulfed with flames.  At this juncture, it remains unclear as to the cause of the blaze, but at the very least, no injuries have been reported as of yet.  There is no question that this site commonly referred to as “ground zero” has endured significant hardship, but as 2012 comes to a close, the number of construction site accidents have been overwhelming.

As a Fort Myers construction lawyer that sues companies for construction site accidents, I am rarely surprised when I hear about incidents similar to that detailed above.  Because when it comes down to it, construction zones pose extremely dangerous conditions for its workers.  However, the number of construction accidents occurring at the World Trade Center construction site this year are mind-boggling.

Beginning on February 16, a crane accident occurred resulting in the free-fall of a steel beam dropping 40 stories onto a flatbed truck — resulting in no injuries.  A few months later on June 2, the 89th floor of the new World Trade tower caught fire, but luckily no injuries were reported.  Later that same month, a construction worker fell onto a piece of metal that pierced his side, which resulted in a leg injury.  In July, another worker had been injured after a large steel beam rolled over onto his leg, which required hospital treatment.  Then in August, a construction worker suffered a trip and fall that required treatment for minor injuries.  Lastly, one month before the fire that occurred this past Wednesday, a worker had been struck by a piece of overhead pipe that became dislodged — causing a minor head wound.

Being a Naples personal injury lawyer that helps those hurt in construction accidents, not one incident occurring at the World Trade construction site this past year is shocking to me.  Whether the construction company does everything completely correct in managing the site, or is negligent in some fashion, a North Miami Beach construction lawyer has most likely helped a client involved in the same or similar accident.  These construction accidents occurring this past year are not abnormal, but the larger the site, the larger the possibility of an incident occurring.

Injured?  Contact our Cape Coral personal injury attorneys today.

Florida Construction Injury Lawyer: 2 Workers Injured After Steel Beam Collapse

Brandon Stein

By: Brandon Stein

If you or someone you know was injured, contact our Fort Lauderdale construction lawyers today.

Just yesterday on a construction site at the University of Utah, two construction workers were seriously injured when a large steel beam collapsed.  According to reports, the construction workers had been lifting the beam when they lost control and it came crashing down on top of them.  The construction company had been performing work to a new building on the campus of the University of Utah at the time of this construction accident.  It has been reported that when the beam fell, it struck one worker and pinned another beneath it.  The two men were transported to a local hospital and were said to be in critical condition.  One construction worker sustained an injury to his hip, while the other sustained injury to his leg.  No additional injuries have been reported at this time.

As a Fort Myers construction lawyer, it does not appear at this point that the injuries sustained by the workers were due to any wrongdoing by the construction company. However, this presumption is solely based upon the limited reporting of this construction accident at this juncture.  For Naples personal injury lawyers that sue construction companies in Florida, it is usually apparent that more times than not the accident could have been avoided.

However, negligence by construction companies that lead to injury are certainly a vehicle for North Miami Beach lawyers to travel within when filing a lawsuit in Florida.  Though, as I have commented in numerous articles in the past, mere negligence is not enough to sustain a successful lawsuit against an employer.  Yet, this does not apply to injuries sustained by non-employees at or near construction sites.

Nevertheless, being a Cape Coral construction lawyer, I have come to recognize that with the ever-changing landscape of the state of Florida, construction is a constant, and as a result, construction site accidents are a constant.  With respect to the construction accident referenced above, that oversight by the construction workers led to serious injury to themselves — but as South Florida construction lawyers come to recognize, oversights by construction companies can often lead to devastating injury for clients.  So, if at all possible, when you come across a construction zone, walk the other way.

 

Florida Construction Injury Lawyer: Electing a Remedy in a Workers’ Comp Case Can Be A Dangerous Proposition

Brandon Stein

By: Brandon Stein

If you or someone you know was injured in a construction accident, contact our North Miami Personal Injury Lawyers today.

All Florida construction lawyers that sue for work-related injuries should be well aware of the Workers’ Compensation Immunity statute.  As more clearly spelled out in my August 18, 2012 article, the Florida legislature has made it extremely difficult, if not impossible, for Florida lawyers to sue their client’s employer for a work-related accident.  Ultimately, the moment the injured worker demands and accepts benefits from his or her employer’s workers’ compensation insurance carrier, an election of remedy has occurred.

Putting aside for a moment the difficulty in piercing the immunity afforded to employers, another obstacle is often times presented to lawyers in cases involving injured construction workers in Florida.  As a Naples construction lawyer, I have become extremely familiar with the “election of remedies” defense that is frequently raised by companies that are sued for job-related injuries.

Essentially, once a worker is injured and accepts benefits provided by a workers’ compensation insurance company, the worker has elected a remedy.  However, Florida law is not entirely clear on this issue, for it is far from black or white — and like much of the law, this area is a shade of gray.  Yet, what Florida law appears to be clear on is that should the injured worker receive a settlement in his or her workers’ comp case, then an election of remedy has apparently been achieved.  So, “electing a remedy” is such a big deal for a Fort Myers construction injury lawyer.

Often times, when a person is injured in a work-related accident, two separate cases are opened: (1) a workers’ compensation case and (2) a personal injury case against the employer.  These two types of cases are ongoing at the same time and the Florida courts have addressed this in a number of decisions relating to “election of remedies.”  Basically, if an injured person receives workers’ compensation benefits and is also pursuing a separate personal injury case with their South Florida lawyer at the same time, then “election of remedies” must not be overlooked.

According to certain decisions by Florida appellate courts and the Florida Supreme Court, if it is determined that the injured person has elected a remedy as it relates to workers’ comp treatment, then he or she may be precluded from continuing to pursue a personal injury case against their employer.

This is obviously a very complex area of law and certainly cannot be fully explained and outlined in one article.  However, if a Fort Lauderdale construction lawyer represents a client injured on the job, then one must be mindful of this important issue and fully inform and educate the client of the ramifications of electing a remedy.