Here is the plain answer. You almost never sue your employer directly. That trade-off is built into workers' compensation. But comp does not close the door on anyone else.
If a property owner, general contractor, equipment maker, or negligent driver played a role in your injury, you may have a second case against them. Lawyers call it a third-party claim. You can pursue it while your comp benefits keep coming.
Comp pays medical bills and a portion of lost wages. It never pays for pain and suffering. A third-party case can. That difference often changes what a family recovers by a wide margin.
The most common third-party cases follow a pattern. A scaffold or ladder fails and someone other than your employer controlled the site. A machine was defectively designed or missing a guard. A driver hit you while you were working. A property owner let a dangerous condition sit.
NYC construction work runs under Labor Law §240, §241(6), and §200. Those statutes put duties on owners and general contractors, not just your boss. Brooklyn, Queens, and the Bronx lead city statistics for trade-specific construction injuries for exactly this reason.
A second case adds pain and suffering, full lost earnings, and future losses comp will never touch. It does not replace your comp claim. It runs alongside it.
Here are some scenarios that create a "third-party" case:
Falls are the clearest third-party cases in New York. If a scaffold, ladder, or hoist failed and you fell, Labor Law §240 may hold the owner and general contractor strictly liable. Your own employer's comp coverage does not shield them.
We handle scaffolding accidents across Long Island and the five boroughs. If you fell at work, have a lawyer look at who controlled the site before you assume comp is all there is.
A defective machine points to the manufacturer. A missing guard may point to whoever modified or maintained it. If you were driving for work and someone hit you, that driver's insurance is a separate source of recovery on top of comp.
Property owners answer for dangerous conditions they created or ignored. None of these defendants are your employer, and that is why you can recover against their insurance, in addition to your comp claim.
Your comp claim keeps checks and medical coverage flowing now. The third-party case pursues everything comp excludes. The comp carrier will assert a lien on part of your lawsuit recovery, and negotiating that lien down is part of our job.
Timing matters too. Lawsuit deadlines are shorter than many people expect, and evidence from the site disappears fast. Start both tracks early.
$26,500,000
For an operating engineer seriously injured in a car wreck
$24,750,000
For a union laborer who suffered a double leg amputation
$9,500,000
for an elevator apprentice struck by the cab
If you were hurt on a job site, construction accidents carry their own rules, and the statutes often favor the worker. Fall cases run through Labor Law §240, and we handle the trades that face height risk every day:
Your benefits claim still matters, and workers' compensation has its own hearings, deadlines, and disputes.
If you were hurt in Nassau or Suffolk, our Long Island workers' comp team handles the board while the lawsuit moves. One firm, both tracks, so nothing falls through.
Schwartzapfel Holbrook takes cases we are prepared to try, and insurers know it. That reputation, backed by more than 900 client reviews, changes how the other side negotiates.
Year after year, we consistently deliver among the highest verdicts and settlements in the state for our clients.
From our Garden City office we serve injured workers across Long Island and all five boroughs. If you are on comp and wondering whether there is more, ask us. The consultation costs nothing, and the answer may change your family's future.
Job sites change quickly. Evidence can be swept up after an accident, and equipment and records can disappear just as fast. New York gives you three years to file under CPLR § 214, but if a government entity owns the property, you have 90 days to file a Notice of Claim or lose your right to recover.
Almost never. Comp is the exclusive remedy against your employer in New York, with rare exceptions. But workers' compensation does not block a lawsuit against anyone else responsible, like an owner, contractor, or driver.
No. The two cases run at the same time. Your benefits continue while the third-party case moves. The comp carrier may claim a lien on part of your lawsuit recovery, and we negotiate that lien as part of the case.
Often the property owner and general contractor, under Labor Law §240. New York holds them strictly liable for many height-related falls. That case is separate from your comp claim and can recover far more.
Pain and suffering, full lost wages instead of a fraction, and future losses. Comp caps wage benefits and pays nothing for what the injury took from your life. For serious injuries, the third-party case is usually the larger recovery.