Personal Injury Litigation

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• Medical Malpractice including Birth, Erb's Palsy, & Laparoscopic Injuries
• Machinery, Construction and Workplace Injuries
• Products Liability
• Pharmaceutical Litigation
• Toyota Accelerator Pedal Recall
• Other Personal Injury Cases
• Personal Injury Appellate Decisions

New York Construction Accident Attorneys

New York and New Jersey

Construction Accidents/Labor Law

Construction accident injuries are, unfortunately, an all too frequent occurrence. New York and New Jersey Workers’ Compensation laws limit an employee’s right to file a lawsuit against his or her employer for accidents taking place in the course of employment.  However, there may be other parties responsible for your injuries.
Trief & Olk has repeatedly represented workers who have been injured as a result of the failure of owners, contractors, and subcontractors to follow safe construction practices.

Trief & Olk has been very successful in obtaining verdicts and settlements for workers injured at their workplace by machines and equipment and by unsafe construction practices, including the following examples:

• A worker damaged his spinal cord and became unable to walk without a walker or other device when he fell while washing windows at a building because of a defective device used to prevent or stop his fall. As a result of Trief & Olk’s efforts, the worker received an award in the millions of dollars.
• A custodian at a New York City public school fell from an A-frame ladder and suffered from lumbar injuries requiring a disc fusion surgery.  We obtained a settlement for him in the amount of two million dollars.
• A laborer was injured at a municipal construction project in lower Manhattan when he fell while descending an improperly secured ladder. He suffered from a skull fracture with bleeding in the brain resulting in mild cognitive impairments as well as herniations to his cervical and lumbar regions.  We were able to obtain a settlement for him well in excess of one million dollars.
• A construction worker fell from an unsteady scaffold, suffering fractures of the radius and humerus and an ACL tear. The defendant erroneously claimed that the accident occurred only because of the workers' own acts.
• A worker suffered herniated lumbar and cervical discs after he fell from a scaffold when, while working, his tools came into contact with an electrical wire. Trief & Olk was able to obtain a judgment in his favor as to liability which resulted in a seven figure settlement.
• A construction worker lost several fingers and most of the functional use of his left hand when he was operating a table saw that lacked the necessary blade guard and spreader.  Trief & Olk claimed that the owner and tenant for the subject property were liable under Labor Law because the saw used on the job site lacked the necessary guard and spreader required by the Industrial Code.
• A laborer was injured while performing demolition work in a basement-level restaurant.  The laborer was demolishing a wall when a tiled portion of the wall fell from above and severed the muscles and nerves in the laborer’s forearm, resulting in permanent partial loss of use of the laborer’s hand.  Trief & Olk was able to settle on behalf of the laborer, under the theory that the owner was liable for the accident because the manner in which the demolition was performed was in violation of the Industrial Code.
• A worker severely fractured his arm and wrist as a result of a fall from an unsecured ladder while removing a sign and awning from a building. We were successful in obtaining a judgment in the lower court which was affirmed on appeal confirming the defendant's responsibility for the injury in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.
• A maintenance worker suffered a severe fracture to his tibia and fibula (lower leg bones), requiring surgery and the implantation of hardware, after the scaffold on which he was working collapsed inward.
• A handyman was injured when performing roofing work.  The handyman was provided with a ladder that had damaged feet and multiple missing rungs.  As a result, when climbing down the ladder, the handyman fell, suffering a severe fracture to his leg requiring surgery and the implantation of hardware. 

If you or someone you know has been injured in a construction accident, we may be able to achieve compensation for the injured party. Please call or e-mail our construction accident lawyers in New York or New Jersey to discuss your case.