When you get hurt climbing on a ladder at a construction site or while performing other work, you could face serious injuries. Broken bones, head injuries, brain injuries, etc., can cause lost time at work, extensive medical treatment needs, and potentially even long-term disabilities.
Our lawyers can help you file injury lawsuits, but it is also important to understand options you might have for Workers’ Compensation claims. Our lawyers can work with your Workers’ Compensation attorneys to maximize your damages and fill in the gaps in coverage you cannot get through that system. We do this by taking at-fault parties to court, when possible.
For a free case review, call the ladder accident lawyers at Rhatigan Law Offices at (312) 578-8502 today.
Filing a Workers’ Comp Claim for a Ladder Accident
While our lawyers do not handle Workers’ Compensation claims, it is important to understand these claims and how they work after your ladder accident.
Who’s Covered?
Workers’ Compensation covers all “employees.” In construction, even independent contractors are typically considered “employees” for this coverage under Illinois law.
What Accidents/Injuries Are Covered?
Ladder accidents of all kinds should be covered, as any injury that is “work-related” will be covered. You do not need to prove fault at all; you can get benefits for total accidents, even when you or someone outside of the workplace was responsible.
Note that you typically need to be out of work long enough for wage-loss benefits to kick in.
What Damages Are Paid?
Workers’ Compensation typically pays around 2/3 of your lost wages and covers all medical care. This leaves off huge areas of damages for things like property damage and pain and suffering that stem from this injury.
How to File
Workers’ Compensation claims begin with notice to your employer to start your initial claim. You must give notice within 45 days of the injury.
Once they deny your claim, you can file a formal claim through the state within 3 years of your injury.
Suing for Ladder Injuries
While Workers’ Compensation is often a good start, it does not pay full damages. To get full compensation for a construction accident like a ladder accident, you may need to turn to a lawsuit.
Who Can You Sue?
Lawsuits for construction accidents and ladder accidents typically must be filed against a third party. You cannot sue your employer for a work-related accident, and that restriction usually extends to coworkers, too. You also cannot sue for an accident you caused yourself if you were more than 50% at fault.
However, you can sue anyone other than your employer/coworkers, such as
- A property owner who lent you a ladder
- Another contractor who lent you a ladder
- The manufacturer of a defective or dangerously designed ladder
- A driver or passerby who bumped or struck your ladder and caused you to fall
- Another contractor who knocked you off the ladder.
What Additional Damages Do You Get?
Lawsuits can recover more damages beyond what Workers’ Compensation can. Typically, you can claim these damages:
- Medical bills – which Workers’ Compensation also covers
- Lost wages – which Workers’ Compensation only covers at 2/3 and caps at certain limits
- Pain and suffering
- Property damage
- Other incidental expenses.
Serious injuries involving paralysis, brain injuries, and ongoing disabilities often come with severe pain and suffering, which could make those damages alone worth more than the other damages in your case. Suing is the only way to seek them; Workers’ Compensation does not pay pain and suffering.
What Do You Need to Prove?
In a lawsuit, our ladder accident attorneys need to prove four elements:
- The defendant owed you a legal duty
- They breached that duty
- That breach caused your ladder accident
- You suffered injuries and other damages you can recover.
This is a higher burden than in a Workers’ Compensation claim, where you just need to show the injury was work-related and disabling.
Common Ladder Accidents You Can Sue For
Ladder accidents happen in all kinds of ways. Sometimes an accident is just an accident, and there was nothing you or anyone else could have done to avoid it – which is where Workers’ Compensation shines. But when the accident is someone else’s fault, you can often sue, such as in these situations:
- You borrow a ladder from the property owner where you are working, and it breaks on you. The owner should have warned you of the danger or stopped you from using their ladder.
- The property owner fails to warn you about a dangerous condition on their property that makes setting up a ladder dangerous, such as uneven flooring or rotting floorboards.
- The same situation, but with a ladder borrowed from another contractor (who is not your employer).
- A ladder has a dangerous design or a manufacturing defect that injures you, such as a broken lock on a new extension ladder.
- The ladder does not include adequate warnings to keep a user safe, especially with complex collapsible or extension ladders.
FAQs for Ladder Accidents in Chicago
Can You Sue if You’re Covered Under Workers’ Comp?
Injured construction workers are often covered under Workers’ Compensation, but this only stops them from suing their own employers and coworkers for injuries. There is no block on your ability to sue other at-fault parties, such as ladder manufacturers or owners, and it is often the best way to get full compensation.
What if You Recover the Same Damages Twice?
Some damages, like medical expenses, are covered under Workers’ Compensation and a lawsuit. When you settle your Workers’ Compensation claim or get ongoing payments, there is typically a subrogation lien put on your payout.
This allows your employer and their insurance carrier to state how much money they paid for you and demand it back when you sue the at-fault party. This allows you quick payments through Workers’ Compensation, but ultimately puts the burden of paying on the party that was actually at fault. It also prevents you from being paid twice for the same damages.
Call Our Chicago Ladder Accident Lawyers Today
To discuss a lawsuit for your ladder accident in Chicago, call our ladder accident lawyers at Rhatigan Law Offices at (312) 578-8502.
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