-What is a nonsubscriber?
When your employer chooses not to subscribe to workers' compensation insurance, the legal world refers to them as as a "nonsubscriber". Nonsubscriber construction accident cases are substantially different than workers' comp cases due to the "double edged sword" nature of the Texas Workers' Compensation Act. In essence, the TWCA provides some measure of immunity to companies who subscribe to workers' comp insurance, but also has built-in provisions to "punish" nonsubscribers by taking away many of their legal defenses and by not setting a cap on the amount that can be recovered.
Since nonsubscribers cannot rely on conventional defense strategies, a rarefied group of defense attorneys that do nothing but defend nonsubscribers have stepped up to defend employers. By nature, they are the most aggressive defense attorneys in the industry. Left with so few defense strategies at their disposal, their case general centers around building a case against YOU. They will do everything in their power to discredit you, and otherwise show that the accident is your fault through some technicality or another. Without the help of experienced construction accident attorneys on your side, you won't stand a chance against the defense counsel. The Dallas construction accident lawyers of Grossman Law Offices have built a reputation for overcoming such defense strategies, resulting in substantial recoveries for our clients.
-Why would a construction company not want to subscribe to workers' compensation insurance?
With all of the legal protection that it grants them, you would think that every construction company would elect to subscribe to worker's comp. However, many construction companies and general contractors will try to save money by not purchasing this rather costly insurance. Ultimately, they are risking your livelihood to in favor of profit.
Certainly, there are some companies that can risk not having such coverage since the work environment is not particularly dangerous. However, construction jobs are inherently dangerous, and the large majority of construction companies that we have gone against, as it turns out, are just trying to save money by not subscribing to worker's comp insurance. When their employees get injured, the company then has to pay out of pocket to compensate the employees. As you can imagine, most companies would rather fire the employee or otherwise skirt their legal obligations.
-How does the law apply to contractors, subcontractors, and other non conventional employees?
At face value, the law states that a a company does not have to compensate a non conventional employee such as a contractor. Most construction companies are aware of this, and they try to use this loop hole to protect themselves from liability AND avoid paying for workers' comp insurance.That certainly sounds like a win-win situation for the employer and a losing deal for the contractor.
Most attorneys will give up on your case as soon as they hear that you are a sub contractor. Not Us.
Our experienced Texas construction accident attorneys have the legal prowess to circumvent the simplistic interpretation of the laws, and get help you recover fair compensation for your injuries; in spite of the fact that the construction company may have technically hired you as a contractor specifically to avoid any liability. Grossman Law Offices has a more broad understanding of the law to keep your employer from hiding behind this technicality.
For 20 years the experienced attorneys of Grossman Law Offices has helped construction accident victims get the compensation that they deserve for their job site injuries. This experience is absolutely vital to winning such complex cases. Many of our clients were turned down by numerous attorneys before finding our firm, simply because most attorneys understand how challenging these cases can be and they will try to avoid them. We are not afraid of a challenge, and we have the knowledge to make a hard case into a winner.
Due to the dangerous environment of the average work site, it is
not uncommon for a construction accident to result in death. Common
causes of construction site deaths are heavy machinery accidents,
falling accidents, crushing accidents, and exposure to toxic chemicals,
explosive chemicals, or electricity.
When a construction accident results in death, it is absolutely
imperative for the family of the deceased to hire an attorney
immediately. Work sites rarely stay still for long. It is not uncommon
for a worker to be killed by a piece of machinery only to have that
same machinery back in the service a few days later. In an environment
that changes so rapidly, it is crucial for an attorney to be brought
into the equation as soon as possible, so that the attorney can secure
the site in order to preserve the evidence necessary to win a wrongful
death case. For example, your attorney can file for a subpoena to keep
the equipment out of service.
Additionally, while most companies will make an effort to adhere
to the rules following an accident, there are many unscrupulous
construction companies out there that have been known to engage in
complex cover-ups to conceal their liability in a construction
accident. Without an attorney to stop them in their tracks or uncover
such a scheme through deposition testimony, it is very unlikely that
the truth will over come out. To be more specific, investigators from
OSHA and the local police department will generally ask questions
designed to reconstruct the events immediately surrounding the
accident, and not much else. Through our rigorous questioning
techniques and investigative methods, our firm has uncovered SHOCKING
aspects to wrongful death cases that the authorities never even knew to
ask for.
Misconceptions about OSHA
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is a federal
regulatory organization the mandates all safety rules and investigates
all construction accidents in the country. Immediately following a
construction accident, an OSHA representative will be dispatched to the
scene of the accident to conduct an investigation. Upon completion of
the investigation, OSHA will file an official report with their
findings. A common misconception that most people have regarding OSHA
is that they will ultimately make a negligent company pay for an
injured or deceased worker. In fact, OSHA does dispense fines to
negligent companies, but the fines are horribly inadequate. The highest
single fine that OSHA can impose for a death is only $7,000. Even if
the employer is found to be responsible of numerous negligent acts, the
fines rarely total a significant amount of money. Charles Jeffress, the
former director of OSHA, has stated publicly, "...The current law is
inadequate to deal with serious violators, repetitive violators,
situations where people are put at risk day after day." Until laws are
passed that grant OSHA some greater abilities to levy substantial
fines, it is more cost effective for some companies to disregard safety
and pay the puny fines.
...That is, until they face our aggressive attorneys. Our
litigious efforts take the profit out of negligent operations to
compensate the family of the deceased, and to influence significant
change within the defendant's safety procedures which results in a safer
environment for all of the victim's coworkers.
Immigration Status in a Construction Accident Wrongful Death
Many construction workers in The State of Texas are from Mexico or other foreign countries. Often, they are working in America illegally. While this is a highly volatile political topic, as it relates to a wrongful death on a construction site a worker's immigration status should have no impact on their rights as a worker.
However, there are a unique set of obstacles that must be addressed. It is fairly common for a worker to live here in America while their family lives in Mexico. In the event of a death, arrangements must be made to transport the decedent's remains back to their country of origin. This matter becomes quite challenging for the family members in Mexico, since the company the decedent worked for usually provides little to no communication to the family. Our attorneys can work with the Mexican Consulate to make arrangements to transport the decedent back to their family for burial.
Additionally, construction accident wrongful death cases involving a non Americans are further complicated by the fact that many construction companies feel little pressure from family members that are so far away. You don't have to be particularly cynical to see how many of these construction companies make a practice of hiring illegal immigrants partly because they know that the workers are always in a constant state of fear over being deported which makes them less likely to complain when they are being treated unfairly. We find such a notion to be completely appalling and unacceptable. To put this into perspective, in one of our firm's recent construction accident wrongful death cases, the victim was an immigrant laborer and in spite of the fact that his death was quite public, it did not even make the news. Such indifference shown by employers is certainly cause for special consideration in these types of cases.
Total Recovery: $1,450,000.00
Attorney Fees: $560,000.00
Litigation Expenses: $31,410.00
Total Recovery: $1,010,000.00
Atty Fees: $333,300.00
Litigation Expenses: $50,000.00
Total Recovery: $550,000.00
Attorney Fees: $220,000.00
Litigation Expenses: $20,465.00
Total Recovery: $300,000.00
Attorney Fees: $120,000.00
Litigation Expenses: $9,807.00
Total Recovery: $226,000.00
Atty Fees: Confidential $90,000.00
Litigation Expenses: Confidential $8,500.00