A serious job site injury can upend your work and your family's plans overnight. At Washor Kool Sosa Maiorana & Schwartz, LLP, our Long Island construction accident lawyers hold property owners and general contractors in Nassau and Suffolk County accountable under New York Labor Law. You can pursue that claim on top of the workers' compensation benefits you may already receive.
New York's construction safety laws apply the same way in Hempstead, Huntington, or Riverhead as they do in the five boroughs. Long Island cases still have their own character: more of the work happens on single-family homes and small commercial projects, and many jobs are public works for towns, villages, and school districts.
Those details can change who you can sue and how fast you need to act. We handle Long Island cases from our office in the Woolworth Building in Manhattan, and consultations are free. Call 212-406-1700 any time, day or night.
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Table of contents
- What Should You Do After a Construction Accident on Long Island?
- The Three Labor Law Sections Behind Long Island Construction Claims
- The Homeowner Exception: Why It Matters on Long Island
- Can You Collect Workers' Compensation and Still Sue the Owner or Contractor?
- Which Companies Can Be Sued After a Nassau or Suffolk Job Site Injury?
- How Long Do You Have to File a Construction Accident Claim on Long Island?
- Nassau and Suffolk Courts That Hear Construction Injury Cases
- Damages in a Long Island Third-Party Construction Claim
- What Our Firm Brings to Long Island Construction Cases
- FAQs: Long Island Construction Accident Lawyer
- Talk to a Long Island Construction Accident Lawyer Today
What Should You Do After a Construction Accident on Long Island?
After a construction accident on Long Island, get medical care, report the injury, and preserve proof of who ran the site before it changes. If you are able, take these steps:
- Get medical care right away and tell every provider that you were hurt at work.
- Report the accident to your foreman or supervisor, and ask whether they wrote an incident report.
- Photograph the area, the equipment involved, and your injuries, if you can do so safely or have a coworker do it.
- Write down the names of coworkers who saw what happened, who owns the property, and which company hired your crew, since on a private house the homeowner exception can turn on who directed the work.
- If the project was for a county, town, village, or school district, note the agency's name, because a notice of claim may be due within 90 days.
Once we are involved, we can send preservation letters that put the owner and contractors on notice to keep the equipment, video, and records tied to your accident.
The Three Labor Law Sections Behind Long Island Construction Claims
Three sections of the New York Labor Law do most of the work in construction injury cases. Each one covers a different kind of danger, and many accidents fall under more than one.
Labor Law 240(1): Falls and Falling Objects
Often called the Scaffold Law, Labor Law Section 240(1) requires owners and contractors to provide proper safety devices, such as scaffolds, ladders, hoists, harnesses, and braces, for work where gravity creates a risk. That covers a roofer who falls from a Suffolk County rooftop and a laborer struck by a load of lumber that slips from a hoist.
When the right protection was missing or failed and that failure caused the injury, the owner and general contractor are liable even if they never supervised the work. Your own carelessness does not reduce the recovery under this section. The main exception is when the worker's own conduct was the only cause of the accident, a defense known as sole proximate cause.
Labor Law 241(6): Specific Safety Rules
Labor Law 241(6) construction claims cover hazards unrelated to height: unguarded saws, slippery walkways, missing eye protection, live electrical lines, and collapsing trenches. Section 241(6) requires owners and contractors to keep construction, excavation, and demolition areas reasonably safe, and the state Industrial Code, Part 23, enforces it through the state’s workplace safety regulations. Our New York Labor Law 241(6) construction accident lawyers match each injury to the specific Industrial Code rule that was broken.
To win, you must point to a specific Industrial Code rule that was broken. New York's highest court confirmed in Mann v. Mezuyon that the rule must identify a specific safety concern and command a specific action to address it. Picking the right rule is where many 241(6) cases are won or lost.
Labor Law 200: The General Duty to Keep a Site Safe
Labor Law Section 200 restates the general duty to provide a reasonably safe workplace. Liability usually turns on whether the owner or contractor controlled the work that caused the injury, or created or knew about a dangerous condition and failed to fix it.
| Law | What it covers | Does your own fault reduce the recovery? |
|---|---|---|
| Labor Law 240(1) | Gravity-related accidents: falls from heights and falling objects | No, unless your conduct was the sole cause |
| Labor Law 241(6) | Violations of specific Industrial Code safety rules | Yes, damages can be reduced by your share of fault |
| Labor Law 200 | General unsafe conditions and unsafe work methods | Yes, damages can be reduced by your share of fault |
The Homeowner Exception: Why It Matters on Long Island
The homeowner exception means the owner of a one- or two-family house who hires out the work, but does not direct or control it, is exempt from Labor Law Sections 240 and 241. Because so much Long Island construction happens on private houses, this exception comes up far more often here than in city high-rise cases.
When Contractors Stay Liable on a Residential Job
The exception protects only the homeowner. Contractors on the job remain responsible under the Labor Law, so a worker who falls from a ladder while re-siding a house in Massapequa may still have a strong claim against the general contractor.
A homeowner who directs how the work is done can lose the exception, so these facts need a close look early.
Can You Collect Workers' Compensation and Still Sue the Owner or Contractor?
Yes. In most cases, you can collect workers' compensation benefits and still bring a third-party lawsuit against the owner, general contractor, or another company on the site. Compensation pays medical bills and part of your lost wages no matter who was at fault, but it never pays for pain and suffering.
In exchange for those benefits, the law generally bars you from suing your own employer, and Section 29(6) of the Workers' Compensation Law extends that bar to coworkers. The owner, the general contractor, and other subcontractors are not your employer, so a claim against them can recover the losses compensation leaves out.
Section 29 lets you keep receiving benefits while the third-party case moves forward, and the compensation carrier is repaid from the recovery through a lien. Our firm handles the third-party case for injured construction workers.
How the Grave Injury Rule Affects Your Case
Section 11 of the Workers' Compensation Law controls whether the owner or contractor you sue can bring your employer into the case to share the cost. They can do so only if you suffered a grave injury, or if your employer signed a written agreement before the accident promising to cover that kind of claim.
The statute limits grave injuries to a short list of catastrophic outcomes, such as death, amputation of an arm or leg, paraplegia or quadriplegia, and a brain injury that causes permanent total disability.
The grave injury rule does not limit your right to sue the owner or general contractor, but it often shapes how the defendants approach settlement.
Which Companies Can Be Sued After a Nassau or Suffolk Job Site Injury?
Workers hurt on Nassau and Suffolk job sites can usually sue the companies that owned, ran, or equipped the site, though not their own employer. A thorough investigation looks at each of these parties:
- The property owner, whether a developer, commercial landlord, or public entity such as a county, town, village, or school district
- The general contractor or construction manager that ran the site, including the contractor a homeowner hired for a residential job
- Subcontractors other than your employer whose work created the hazard
- Companies that supplied, rented, or maintained defective equipment
Contracts between these companies often show who controlled the site and whose insurance will ultimately pay.
How Long Do You Have to File a Construction Accident Claim on Long Island?
Most Long Island construction injury lawsuits must be filed within three years of the accident under Section 214 of New York's Civil Practice Law and Rules (CPLR). Shorter deadlines apply in two common situations:
- Public owners: Claims against a county, town, village, fire district, or school district generally require a notice of claim within 90 days under Section 50-e of the General Municipal Law and a lawsuit within one year and 90 days under Section 50-i. A court may allow late notice in some cases, but approval is not automatic.
- Fatal accidents: A wrongful death action must generally be filed within two years of the death under Section 5-4.1 of the Estates, Powers and Trusts Law.
Exceptions and tolling rules can change these periods, so confirm your deadline early.
Nassau and Suffolk Courts That Hear Construction Injury Cases
Serious construction cases are usually filed in the state Supreme Court. Nassau County's Supreme Court sits at 100 Supreme Court Drive in Mineola, and Suffolk County hears civil cases at its Riverhead courthouse, 1 Court Street. Appeals from both counties go to the Appellate Division, Second Department.
Filing Outside Nassau or Suffolk County
An accident on Long Island does not always mean the case must be tried there. Under CPLR 503, a case can generally be venued in the county where one of the parties resided when it was filed or where a substantial part of the events occurred. Choosing the venue is a strategic decision, and we make it with you.
Damages in a Long Island Third-Party Construction Claim
A successful third-party claim can include past and future medical care, lost wages and lost earning capacity, and pain and suffering. Your spouse may also have a claim for the loss of services and companionship, and families who lose a loved one can pursue a wrongful death claim.
How Your Share of Fault Changes the Award
Under CPLR 1411, your own share of fault on a claim outside Section 240(1) reduces your damages but does not bar recovery. If a jury values a Section 241(6) claim at $900,000 and finds you 25 percent at fault, the award becomes $675,000, while the same finding generally would not reduce a Section 240(1) award. Every case depends on its own facts, and no lawyer can promise a particular result.
What Our Firm Brings to Long Island Construction Cases
Construction accident claims under New York Labor Law are central to our practice. When you work with our New York construction accident attorneys, you get:
- A team that builds each case around the specific Labor Law and Industrial Code violations that fit your accident
- Our attorneys have recovered over $1 billion for injured clients
- Lawyers who began their careers on the defense side and understand how insurers evaluate construction claims
- Spanish-speaking attorneys who understand the construction trades and the language of the job site
If your injury happened away from a construction site, such as a car crash or a fall in a store, our broader Long Island personal injury practice handles those claims.
We do not handle workers' compensation claims, so every Long Island case we take focuses on a third-party claim against the owners and contractors who controlled the site. Call 212-406-1700 any time for a free consultation about how you were hurt and which deadlines apply to you.
FAQs: Long Island Construction Accident Lawyer
Long Island workers and families also ask about these situations.
Can a Manhattan law firm handle my Long Island construction case?
Yes. Attorneys admitted in New York can appear in any New York State court, including Nassau and Suffolk County Supreme Court. Our only office is in Manhattan, and we represent workers hurt on Long Island job sites from there.
Can I sue New York State for a construction accident on Long Island?
Yes, but the claim goes to the New York State Court of Claims instead of the Supreme Court, and the deadline is much shorter. Under Section 10 of the Court of Claims Act, a personal injury claim against the State generally must be filed and served on the Attorney General within 90 days, unless you serve a written notice of intent to file a claim within those 90 days.
Serving that notice extends the deadline to file the claim to two years from the accident.
What happens if a family member was killed in a Long Island construction accident?
The family can bring a wrongful death claim through the personal representative of the worker's estate, and under New York law it generally must be filed within two years of the death. When a county, town, village, or school district owned the project, a notice of claim is also due within 90 days after the estate's representative is appointed.
No lawsuit can undo that loss, but it can hold the companies responsible for an unsafe Long Island job site accountable.
Can my employer fire me for bringing a construction accident claim?
New York law bars an employer from firing you for claiming workers' compensation, and you bring the third-party lawsuit against the owner and contractors, not your employer. Section 120 of the Workers' Compensation Law makes it unlawful for an employer to fire or otherwise discriminate against a worker for claiming or trying to claim compensation.
Complaints of that kind go to the New York State Workers' Compensation Board, generally within two years.
Can undocumented workers bring a construction accident claim in New York?
Yes. New York's Labor Law protects construction workers on Long Island regardless of immigration status. In Balbuena v IDR Realty, New York's highest court held that federal immigration law does not bar an undocumented worker from recovering lost wages in a Labor Law 240(1) or 241(6) case, at least where there is no proof the worker used false work authorization documents to get the job.
Talk to a Long Island Construction Accident Lawyer Today
If you were hurt on a Long Island construction site, call Washor Kool Sosa Maiorana & Schwartz, LLP at 212-406-1700 for a free consultation. We answer 24/7, and we can start preserving evidence right away. Our office is in the Woolworth Building, 233 Broadway #2020, New York, NY 10279.
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