Dallas Work Injury Attorney
Injured workers have legal rights. If you, your spouse, or one of your family members was injured at work, your family could be entitled to compensation for the medical bills, lost earnings, and other hardships caused by your workplace accident. Rest assured knowing that you do not have to fight for compensation on your own.
Turn to the experienced Dallas work injury lawyers of the Queenan Law Firm, P.C. for trusted, aggressive legal experience. Call our law offices at (817) 476-1797 today to set up a confidential and completely free legal consultation.
Types of Workplace Accident Injury Claims We Handle in Dallas
Employers have a duty of care to their employees. That means employers are responsible for providing employees with safe, sanitary working conditions that do not violate health and safety regulations. While most businesses hold themselves to high ethical standards and maintain excellent working environments, other companies sacrifice employee safety for profit, cutting corners on vital maintenance measures and other procedures designed to protect workers from injury and occupational illness.
The work injury attorneys of Queenan Law handle a wide range of injury claims on behalf of workplace accident victims, including but not limited to:
- Back Injuries
- Bulging Disc
- Herniated Disc
- Vertebral Fractures (Broken Back)
- Broken Bones
- Fractured Clavicle (Broken Collarbone)
- Fractured Femur (Broken Thigh)
- Fractured Fibula (Broken Leg)
- Fractured Humerus (Broken Arm)
- Fractured Patella (Broken Kneecap)
- Fractured Radius (Broken Forearm)
- Fractured Rib
- Fractured Tibia (Broken Leg)
- Fractured Ulna (Broken Forearm)
- Pelvic Fracture (Broken Hip)
- Facial Injuries
- Broken Nose
- Broken Jaw
- Cracked/Chipped Tooth
- Hearing Loss/Impaired Hearing
- Permanent Scarring and Disfigurement
- Vision Loss/Impaired Vision
- Foot and Ankle Injuries
- Calcaneal Fracture (Broken Heel)
- Lisfranc Injuries/Metatarsal Fractures (Broken Mid-foot)
- Phalangeal Fractures (Broken Toe)
- Tarsal Fracture (Broken Upper Foot)
- Hand and Wrist Injuries
- Chauffeur’s Fracture
- Colles’ Fracture
- Scaphoid Fracture
- Smith’s Fracture
- Second and Third Degree Burn Injuries
- Chemical Burns
- Cold Burns
- Electrical Burns
- Friction Burns
- Heat/Thermal Burns
- Radiation Burns
- Spinal Cord Injuries (SCI)
- Sprains and Strains
- Traumatic Brain Injuries (TBI)
Industries with the Most Frequent Workplace Accidents
As one of the largest and most heavily populated states in the U.S., Texas has also developed a bustling economy. In fact, Texas would boast the world’s twelfth largest economy by GDP if it were its own country. With over 78,000 employees working for hundreds of international companies, including BP, DOW Chemical, ExxonMobil, Shell Oil Company, CITGO, and ConocoPhillips.
Our Dallas workplace injury attorneys represent injured workers from across all of Texas’ biggest and most rapidly expanding industries and occupations, including:
- Accountants and Auditors
- Agriculture and Farming
- Aeronautics and Aviation
- Architecture and Engineering
- Cleaners and Janitors
- Computer Technology
- Construction
- Cooks and Chefs
- Doctors, Nurses, and Healthcare Technicians
- Electric Power
- Filmmaking
- Food Preparation
- Medical Research
- Natural Gas
- Nuclear Energy
- Office and Administrative Support
- Oil Production
- Petroleum Refining
- Pilots
- Retail Sales
- Security Guards
- Teachers
- Tourism
- Transportation
- Waiters and Waitresses
Filing a Workers’ Compensation Claim for an Injury in Dallas
Depending on the situation, there are two ways an injured employee in Dallas can seek compensation for a work-related accident:
- Filing a workers’ compensation claim with the Texas Department of Insurance, Division of Workers’ Compensation (TDI-DWC).
- Filing a personal injury lawsuit against the party responsible for the accident.
Texas does not require employers to carry workers’ compensation insurance. However, if your employer does not provide workers’ compensation for injured employees, you may be able to file a lawsuit. In order to be compensated, you will need to prove that your employer’s negligence was responsible for causing an otherwise preventable accident, leading to your job injury.
Negligence means failure to exercise the normal level of care that would be expected, considering the circumstances, in order to avoid a foreseeable accident. For example, negligent property maintenance at a restaurant, such as failing to repair a cracked floor tile, could cause a waiter to have a slip and fall accident.
If your employer provides workers’ compensation, you typically cannot file a lawsuit. However, there are a few circumstances where litigation is a possibility. For instance, if your injuries were caused by a third party other than your employer, you could potentially bring an action against that person or company. For example, if you were injured by a defective power tool, you could have a case against the power tool’s manufacturer or other parties.
Employer Liability for Injured Workers
One of the hallmarks of a long, lucrative career is the ability to rely on your employer to provide a safe working environment. The national standards handed down by government entities like OSHA – the Occupational Safety and Health Administration – help protect workers. The regulations and safety standards OSHA uses throughout the country are aimed at keeping workers safe at work. If your employer violated these rules and regulations, that failure could help you prove your workplace injury case.
A Dallas workplace injury lawsuit requires proving the employer’s negligence in court by proving each of the following four elements:
- The employer owed you a duty, as an employee.
- The employer breached that duty.
- That breach caused your injury.
- You suffered an injury the court can redress.
In cases where you are suing for the death of a loved one in an on-the-job accident, the fourth element is replaced by proving the financial and emotional harms their death caused you.
Proving these first two elements, duty and breach, comes down to demonstrating the standards that an employer in your employer’s situation can be expected to follow, and how the employer failed to live up to those standards. When there are federal or state regulations that govern the specific issue, you can use those standards to demonstrate the duty and breach.
If the safety regulations from bodies like OSHA or the Texas Division of Workers’ Compensation have the force of law, your employer could be held liable for violating these rules. The same is true for local or state laws, ordinances, and building codes. Since these rules are there to protect workers and create safe workplaces, your employer’s violation of a rule could create a per se negligence situation. In that case, the employer’s safety violation will automatically prove the duty and breach elements of the lawsuit. This makes your case easier to prove in court.
Proving Negligence in a Workplace Accident Injury Claim in Dallas, TX
In order to recover compensation in a lawsuit against your employer, you must prove that the employer was negligent in creating a safe workplace. This means that the actions, inactions, or decisions of the owners, upper management, or your supervisors created unsafe conditions. Things like failing to provide safety equipment, failing to inspect or repair facilities, failing to install smoke detectors, or failing to properly train workers could all be the employer’s fault. What these lawsuits might not cover is the failures of other workers.
If your employer does participate in workers’ compensation, you might be able to recover the bare necessities of compensation from workers’ compensation insurance. This should pay for medical expenses and lost wages while you are unable to work. This might only cover medical expenses for a physician your employer chooses, might pay you a reduced wage, and will not pay for pain and suffering. However, this will let you recover for injuries caused by the negligent conduct of a coworker or your employer. Further, you are not required to prove negligence under workers’ comp – any work-related injuries should be covered with or without a showing of fault.
If your employer does not participate in workers’ compensation, you might have no recourse but to sue in court. This means that you could potentially recover full compensation for medical expenses with a doctor of your choice, lost wages for their full amount, and damages for pain and suffering. However, you may not be able to recover for injury caused by a fellow co-worker, only for negligence caused by your employer. Because of an ancient legal doctrine called the “fellow-servant doctrine,” you might be barred from recovering compensation from your employer for the failures of a co-worker. This limits your damages to the portion your employer caused directly, such as failure to train the co-worker or equip you with proper safety gear.
Dallas, Texas Work Accident Injury Lawyers Representing Injured Workers
Taking your workplace injury case to a personal injury attorney can help you understand what your case might be worth. Moreover, an attorney can help you determine whether your employer supplies qualifying workers’ compensation coverage that could pay for your injuries. Without qualifying coverage, your work injury attorney in Dallas can file your case and fight to get you the compensation you need for medical bills, lost wages, and pain and suffering. Act quickly though, because your case might be limited by strict legal deadlines.
Texas’ injury compensation laws can be complex, but you do not have to go through the process without help on your side. Count on the experienced Dallas work injury lawyers of The Queenan Law Firm for dedicated, around-the-clock legal support and representation. Call our law offices right away at (817) 476-1797 to schedule a free and confidential legal consultation.
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