How does labor law section 200 affect my construction injury claim?

Michael Rose outlines labor law section 200 and how it relates to construction accident injury claims.

The basic concept is, if you’re a construction worker and you’re injured in the course of your employment in New York, because you receive workers’ compensation benefits, you’re not entitled to bring a claim against your employer. However, based on the labor law, it places a responsibility on owners and contractors to keep construction sites safe. Essentially, it’s a general negligence statute.

In circumstances where an owner or contractor does something that causes a person’s injury, or fails to take proper safety precautions, that gives you the ability to bring a claim against a third party, other than your employer, for pain and suffering, full lost wages, benefits such as pension, annuity, medical expenses, future medical expenses – things that someone wouldn’t have the ability to recover in a workers’ compensation claim.