New York’s Labor Law is the strongest in the country
Most injured workers are told that workers’ compensation is all they get. On a New York construction site that is frequently wrong, and the difference is life-changing. Compensation pays a portion of your wages and your medical treatment, but nothing for pain, and nothing for what the injury costs you over a lifetime. A Labor Law claim against the property owner and the general contractor — who are not your employer — can.
Section 240(1), the Scaffold Law, is the provision that matters most. Where a worker is injured by a fall from a height or by something falling from above, it places liability on owners and contractors absolutely, and a worker’s own carelessness is generally not a defense at all. There is nothing else like it in American law, and insurers fight it accordingly.
Section 241(6) covers the rest of the site by attaching liability to specific Industrial Code violations — debris, unguarded openings, inadequate lighting, missing protection. Section 200 covers ordinary negligence in how the work was run. Which section applies decides how the case is built, and it is decided by facts that are documented in the first weeks.
None of this is affected by your immigration status. New York courts have been clear that undocumented workers may bring these claims, and we do not ask.
The cases we handle most
Falls from heights
Scaffolds, ladders, roofs and unguarded openings. The core of a Scaffold Law claim.
Falling objects
Materials, tools and debris from above, where hoisting or securing was inadequate.
Trench and structural collapse
Excavation and shoring failures, and the site-safety decisions behind them.
Machinery and electrocution
Unguarded equipment, live lines and energized circuits — often an Industrial Code violation.
What we do once you call
We make sure the workers’ compensation claim is filed so your treatment and wage benefits start, and we notify the owner and general contractor of the injury claim.
We demand preservation of site photographs, safety meeting records and the equipment involved, and identify every contractor on site — each carries its own policy.
We obtain the DOB and OSHA records, the site safety plan and prior violations, and establish which Labor Law sections apply to how you were hurt.
We litigate the Labor Law claim alongside the compensation case, and coordinate the compensation lien so the recovery is not eaten by it.
Common questions
I’m already getting workers’ compensation. Can I still sue?
You generally cannot sue your own employer, but you can bring a separate claim against the property owner, the general contractor and other contractors on site — and that claim covers pain and suffering, which compensation does not. The two run together.
The fall was partly my own fault. Does that matter?
Under Labor Law § 240(1) usually not. Where the section applies, the owner and contractor are liable for failing to provide proper protection, and a worker’s own negligence is generally not a defense. It can matter under other sections, which is why the classification of your accident is important.
I’m undocumented. Is it safe to bring a claim?
Yes. New York law permits undocumented workers to recover for construction injuries, immigration status is not a defense available to an owner or contractor, and we do not ask about it.