You showed up. You loaded the freight, stocked the shelves, lifted the patient, ran the route. Then you got hurt doing it. You did your job. Now we do ours. As a work injury lawyer in Rosedale, Yakov Mushiyev & Associates handles the whole thing for injured workers in southeast Queens: the workers' compensation claim that keeps a check coming, and the lawsuit against anyone else who helped cause the accident.
Our office is in Rosedale, at 1 Cross Island Plaza. The people we represent work at the airport, in the warehouses along the Nassau line, on construction crews, behind the wheel of delivery vans, in patients' homes, and in the stores and kitchens along Merrick and Sunrise. If that's you, this page lays out exactly what we do and how we do it.
Two claims, one team: how a work injury lawyer in Rosedale builds your case
Most injured workers are told there is one option: file for comp and take what it pays. That is half the picture. A serious job injury often gives you two separate claims, and we run both of them from the same desk.
Claim one: workers' compensation
Comp is no-fault. It doesn't matter whether you slipped, a co-worker messed up, or the boss cut corners. If you're an employee hurt on the job, comp generally pays your related medical treatment and a portion of your lost wages: two-thirds of your average weekly wage, capped at $1,281.50 a week for injuries on or after July 1, 2026. The trade-off is that, under Workers' Compensation Law § 11, comp is generally your only remedy against your own employer. No pain and suffering. No full wages.
Comp also has hard deadlines. The New York Workers' Compensation Board says you must notify your employer within 30 days and file Form C-3 within two years. We get the notice in writing, file the C-3, and push back when the carrier stalls treatment or disputes your wage rate.
Claim two: the third-party case
Your employer is usually protected from a lawsuit. Everyone else is not. If a different company's driver backed into you, a property owner left a stairway broken, a general contractor failed to provide a safe ladder, or a manufacturer sold a machine without a working guard, that party can be sued. A third-party case can recover what comp never will: pain and suffering, your full lost earnings, and the loss of what you could have earned in the years ahead. Most of these suits must generally be filed within three years.
Why the same team has to run both
The two claims are tied together. Under Workers' Compensation Law § 29, the comp carrier generally gets a lien on the third-party recovery for what it paid, and a settlement for less than the comp you're owed generally needs the carrier's written consent or a court order. Get that wrong and you can lose future comp benefits. Split the claims between two offices that don't talk, and the medical records, wage proof and settlement timing can work against each other. We keep it under one roof so every move on one claim is made with the other in mind. For the lien in detail, see our guide to handling a workers' comp lien on your settlement.
Rosedale jobs, real hazards, and who else may be responsible
The neighborhood's work is hands-on, and so are the injuries. Here is how we look at the jobs we see most, and where a third-party claim often comes from. Every case depends on its facts, but this is where we start digging.
| Job | Typical hazards | Possible third parties |
|---|---|---|
| Airport and cargo | Struck by tugs, loaders or trucks; crushed hands on conveyors; falls from equipment and docks; heavy lifting | Another company's vehicle operator; facility owner or operator; equipment manufacturer; a public authority (with short notice deadlines) |
| Warehouse | Forklift strikes; falling stock; broken dock plates; unsafe racking | Building owner; forklift or racking maker; the client company at a staffing-agency placement; a trucking company at the dock |
| Construction | Falls from ladders, scaffolds and roofs; falling objects; trench and demolition hazards | Property owner and general contractor under Labor Law §§ 240 and 241; other subcontractors; equipment makers |
| Delivery | Crashes; being hit while unloading; dog bites; falls on stairs and stoops | The at-fault driver; a property owner with a broken step; a dog owner |
| Home health aide | Lifting injuries; falls on unsafe stairs or icy walks; dog bites in the home | The homeowner or landlord; a dog owner |
| Retail and restaurant | Slips on wet floors; falling merchandise; burns; cuts from slicers and other equipment | A landlord responsible for the premises; an outside contractor or vendor's crew; an equipment manufacturer |
Warehouse and dock cases have their own patterns, covered in our forklift and loading dock injury guide. Drivers hurt on the road can also read about delivery van and truck accident claims in Queens.
Rosedale sits right where the JFK airport area meets the Nassau County line, with Sunrise Highway, Merrick Boulevard, Francis Lewis Boulevard and the Belt and Cross Island Parkways carrying workers and freight through it every shift. That location matters to your case. An accident a few blocks east may fall under Nassau agencies instead of New York City, and a job at or near the airport can involve public owners with notice deadlines far shorter than three years. We sort out who owns and controls the site at the start, not after a deadline has passed.
What we handle for you
You have one job right now: getting better. Here is what comes off your plate the day you hire us.
- The paperwork. Written notice to your employer, the C-3, medical authorizations and every form the Board or the carrier sends.
- The comp hearings. We appear for you when the carrier contests the claim, cuts off payments or disputes your average weekly wage.
- The doctors. We make sure your providers know the injury is work-related and document it properly, because both claims rise or fall on those records.
- The investigation. Photos, incident reports, witness names, contracts showing who controlled the site, equipment maintenance records, video before it's recorded over.
- The third-party lawsuit. Identifying every responsible company, filing suit on time, and taking it through discovery, depositions and, if needed, trial.
- The lien. Negotiating the comp carrier's lien and getting the consent the law requires before anything settles.
- The bills. Fielding calls from collectors and providers while the claims are sorted out.
- The insurance adjusters. They talk to us, not you. No recorded statements without a lawyer.
From the first call to the final check
- We listen. A free consultation in English, Russian or Spanish, at our office, by video, at your home or in the hospital.
- We lock down the deadlines. Employer notice, the C-3, any notice of claim against a public body, and the lawsuit deadline all go on our calendar on day one.
- We get comp moving. So medical care and wage checks start while the bigger case is built.
- We find the other responsible parties. Site owners, contractors, drivers, manufacturers, and their insurers.
- We prove the damages. Medical opinions on your limitations, wage records, and where needed, proof of what the injury does to your future earning power.
- We negotiate hard, and we're ready to try the case. Insurers settle fairly when they believe you'll go to court.
- We close it out cleanly. Lien resolved, consent in hand, money distributed, comp protected.
Hurt on a construction site? New York's scaffold law may apply
Construction workers in New York have protections most workers don't. Labor Law § 240(1) requires owners and contractors to provide proper ladders, scaffolds and other safety devices for elevation-related work, and it can hold them responsible when a worker falls or is hit by a falling object because that protection was missing or failed. Labor Law § 241(6) covers construction, excavation and demolition work and can apply when a specific Industrial Code rule was violated. There is a carve-out for owners of one- and two-family homes who don't direct or control the work, so the type of property matters.
These cases have their own playbook. See our construction accident practice page and our construction accident lawyer page for Rosedale for how we handle scaffold, ladder and falling-object claims.
Driving for work? A crash brings in different rules
If you were hurt in a vehicle crash on the clock, comp usually covers you, and you may also have a case against the at-fault driver. That case is a motor vehicle suit, which means two extra hurdles. You generally must show a "serious injury" under Insurance Law § 5102(d), and the old 90/180-day category was removed from that list in 2026. And since late May 2026, CPLR 1411(b) generally bars recovery in a motor vehicle injury suit if you are found more at fault than the defendants combined. That makes early evidence, such as dashcam video, telematics, dispatch logs and witnesses, even more important. Accidents that don't involve a vehicle, such as a fall or a machine injury, are still generally governed by pure comparative fault, where your share of fault reduces the award but does not erase it.
Questions injured workers ask us
Will my boss find out I talked to a lawyer, and can I be fired for it?
Your employer will know about the comp claim, because notice is required. New York law generally prohibits firing or punishing an employee for claiming comp. If something like that happens, write down dates and keep messages, and tell us right away.
The company says I'm an independent contractor. Am I out of luck?
Not necessarily. The label on the paperwork isn't always what decides it; how the work is actually controlled matters. And if you truly are independent, the exclusive-remedy rule may not protect the company that hired you, which can open a direct negligence claim. We look at both possibilities.
Do I have to pay anything up front?
No. We work on a contingency fee, so there is no fee unless we win. Our guide to what comp pays and when you can sue explains how the money side of these claims usually works.
I'm still working light duty. Should I wait to call?
No. The 30-day notice rule runs whether or not you're still at work, and evidence at a busy site disappears fast. A call costs nothing and keeps your options open.
Why injured workers in Rosedale call us
We're not a downtown firm that sees Rosedale on a map. Our office is here, at the Cross Island Plaza, close to the airport, the parkways and the Nassau line where so many of our clients work. Yakov Mushiyev is a former head litigation attorney who grew up in Queens. Lawsuits from this neighborhood are generally filed in Queens County Supreme Court on Sutphin Boulevard in Jamaica, a short drive from our office, and the NYPD's 105th Precinct covers Rosedale, so we know where the reports and records come from. If you want the full step-by-step on comp versus a lawsuit before you call, read our full guide to the comp-or-lawsuit decision. For an overview of our practice, visit the work injury practice page, or see everything we handle locally on our Rosedale accident lawyer page, including premises liability claims in Rosedale.
Talk to a workplace accident lawyer in Rosedale today
Yakov Mushiyev & Associates represents injured workers from our Rosedale office at 1 Cross Island Plaza, Suite 325. The firm has recovered over $80 million for clients. Consultations are free, in English, Russian and Spanish, at our office, by video, at your home or in the hospital, and there is no fee unless we win.
Call 718.775.3110 or contact us online. Tell us what happened at work, and let us take it from here.
This article is general information, not legal advice. Every case is different, and prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Attorney Advertising.