Eloy Elizalde Injured in Work Accident in McAllen, TX

McAllen, TX — November 15, 2024, Eloy Elizalde died as the result of an accident at around 7:00 p.m. along North 1st Street.

According to initial details about the accident, it took place just off the corner of N. 1st and E. Highway 83.

It appears that 59-year-old Eloy Elizalde was unloading material from a trailer at a loading dock. The OSHA report says that the truck pulled the trailer away from the dock momentarily. This caused Eloy Elizalde to fall. The truck then backed up, hitting Eloy Elizalde.

Due to the accident, Eloy Elizalde sustained fatal injuries. There were no other reported injuries. Additional details about the accident are unavailable at this time.

Commentary by Attorney Michael Grossman

Texas already has the most complex work fatality laws of any other state in the country. That alone can make a situation like this significantly challenging for a worker’s loved ones. However, a tractor-trailer at a loading dock. That brings up a very serious question: Was the truck driver a co-worker or an employee from another company? Here’s why that matters.

Generally speaking, there can be unique legal avenues available to a worker’s family when the cause of an accident involves a separate employer. Work accident laws typically only cover possible solutions between workers and their own employers. So, for example, if a truck driver behaves negligently and runs over someone working for a business they’re making a delivery to, that worker or their loved ones may have the same legal rights as one would if the victim was just a pedestrian or a car driver in a traffic accident.

But on top of that, Texas work accident law could still apply depending on the exact circumstances leading to the this accident. Safety procedures, the layout of the loading dock, training and supervision, a company’s history of accidents or safety violations—this all would still be important to address even if the accident was caused by another company’s employee.

To put all of this another way, it’s very unlikely for an OSHA investigation to truly capture everything that happened here. If there wasn’t a proper, thorough investigation into the circumstances surrounding the victim’s death, then there could be a lot of issues left unaddressed. If nothing else, a worker’s loved ones deserve answers, and they deserve a clear path to a proper resolution. In my experience, finding that path is much more challenging without the right experience and approach.