Work accidents can inflict victims with debilitating injuries, severely limiting their ability to return to a pre-injury state. Suffering that extent of damage while doing your job can cause tremendous setbacks to your health and well-being. If you sustained on-the-job injuries, you may be eligible to file a claim against a third party for monetary compensation. These funds could aid you with paying bills if paychecks stop coming in and help you recover losses for injuries you suffered from no fault of your own.
Consider hiring an Odessa work injury lawyer from our firm to handle your personal injury claim. We will investigate the work injury accident to identify who is responsible for your injuries and fight for the compensation the negligent party or their insurance company owes you.
Our Odessa Work Injury Lawyer Can Represent Your Case at No Cost
Sustaining catastrophic injuries at work can completely derail your life. You may find yourself suddenly inundated with enormous financial obligations in the form of medical and rehabilitation bills and other expenses, especially when the nature of the injury impacts your ability to return to work.
Domingo Garcia’s legal team understands the financial constraints work injury victims face. You’d be happy to know you can hire us on a contingency-fee-basis. With this model, you owe us no fee unless and until we succeed in obtaining a settlement in your case.
Our Odessa Work Injury Attorney Could Help You File a Third-Party Liability Claim to Obtain Compensation
If someone else’s negligence resulted in you incurring devastating injuries at your job, you could file a third-party claim against that culpable entity or individual, as per Texas Labor Code § 417.001.
Here are some examples where a third party may hold liability for your work injuries:
- If you were driving your company vehicle and a negligent motorist caused a collision, you may be able to sue the at-fault driver for compensation
- If you were using a forklift or another machine or tool that was defective, and that defect caused your injuries, then you can bring a claim against the product manufacturer
- If you were injured on the property of another company or individual, you might be able to sue the property owner
Our Odessa work injury lawyer has vast experience with filing claims against several third parties, including non-subscriber employers whose negligence results in injured workers.
Our Odessa Work Injury Attorney Can Assess If Multiple Parties Are Involved
The attorney handling your claim will evaluate the facts of your case to detect the individual or entity responsible for your losses. In some cases, there may be more than one party holding liability.
For example, if you are on the road for work and a negligent truck driver causes a collision, you may be able to sue the truck driver, the trucker’s employer, and the trucking company.
Here are some examples of parties that may potentially hold liability for your injuries:
- Your employer
- Negligent coworker
- Construction site owner
- Engineer or architect
- General contractors or subcontractors
- Manufacturers of tools and machinery
- A negligent driver
- Property owner
- Maintenance or cleaning company
If the evidence points to multiple liable parties, you will have more than one source to approach for compensation through a third-party liability claim or lawsuit.
A Work Injury Attorney in Odessa Can Explain the Range of Damages You Can Recover
A claim or a lawsuit opens the door for victims to recuperate a variety of losses. Since every case is different, a lawyer will have to review your case first to determine which damages you are eligible to recover.
In general, injured workers in Odessa can obtain economic and non-economic damages.
Economic damages: This category of damages aims to compensate victims for their verifiable, measurable monetary losses. They typically constitute most of the awarded settlement. Examples include compensation for:
- Past and future medical expenses, such as hospital bills, medication expenses, lab tests, surgeries, and therapy
- Past and future wage loss
- Lost benefits, bonuses, and business opportunities
- Reduced earning capacity
- Household services, such as the cost of hiring a housekeeper
- Out-of-pocket expenses, such as childcare
- Home or vehicle modification (wheelchair ramps)
- Assistive devices, such as hearing aids, wheelchairs, and cane
- Property damage, such as the cost of repairing or replacing a damaged personal vehicle
Economic damages are documented in receipts, invoices, repair bills, medical records, and other resources your attorney will use to calculate this portion of your settlement.
Non-economic damages: This category aims to compensate victims for the non-monetary, non-measurable losses they have suffered due to the work injury. They typically pertain to psychological and emotional losses. Examples include compensation for:
- Mental and emotional distress
- Pain and suffering
- Loss of consortium
- PTSD
- Loss of enjoyment of life
- Scarring and disfigurement
Wrongful death damages: If your loved one passed away from a preventable catastrophic work injury arising from explosions, fires, or contact with heavy equipment, the surviving family members could seek wrongful death damages. These include compensation for:
- Medical expenses
- Funeral and burial costs
- Lost income
- Lost care and support
- Lost inheritance: i.e., what the deceased would have accumulated for a family member’s inheritance
- Loss of emotional support, love, companionship, and guidance
- Pain and suffering
- Mental anguish
Punitive damages: If it is found that the at-fault party engaged in grossly negligent or malicious behavior with the direct intent to cause you harm, then the court may award punitive damages to punish the defendant and deter similar incidents from occurring in the future. Punitive damages are not the norm; they are only awarded in rare cases.
We Will Help Calculate the Value of Your Losses
Work injury victims suffer a myriad of losses. Calculating the total damages can be difficult, but it is a necessary step for understanding how much you can redeem through a claim or a lawsuit. Otherwise, you would not know if the offer proposed by the liable insurance company would be enough to meet all your injury-related expenses.
Some losses are easier to calculate than others. Non-economic damages, such as PTSD and emotional distress, are subjective and do not have an inherent dollar amount. It can also be tricky to ascertain future medical expenses and wage loss.
An Odessa work injury attorney’s knowledge and experience can be used to quantify each of your current and anticipated injury-related losses. We will consult with medical and mental health professionals, vocational experts, and others to understand the full impact of your injuries. Then we will use an industry-recognized formula to tabulate your damages accurately.
Our goal is to win you a settlement that matches the full spectrum of your injuries, suffering, and losses. If you would like to learn more about calculating damages, reach out to us, and we can explain which losses you are qualified to redeem.
How Our Odessa Work Injury Attorney Can Elevate Your Case’s Outcome
Understanding workplace injury laws can be intimidating for most injured employees. There are too many moving parts in terms of rules and regulations that can impact the outcome of your case. Also, when you are battling debilitating injuries, deep psychological trauma, and the weight of piling medical bills, figuring out the legal aspects of how to pursue compensation can seem like a daunting task.
It is important to note that you do not need to be well-versed in Texas workplace laws to exercise your right to compensation. Domingo Garcia is here to represent your workplace accident injury case from start to finish. Here are some ways we may assist you:
Investigate Your Case to Uncover How the Accident Occurred
Our team will investigate all aspects of your work injury accident. We will look at the sequence of events and available evidence to understand how the accident occurred.
Some scenarios of an employer or third-party negligence that may lead to worker injury in Odessa include:
- An employee suffering severe burns and lacerations in a plant explosion that occurred because the plant owner or operator did not abide by the federal and state mandates, rules, and regulations governing the safety, maintenance, and operation of plants
- An employee falling from an elevated height due to the employer not providing guardrails, harnesses, toe boards, or safety cables.
- An employee improperly operating a forklift because the general contractor failed to provide employees with sufficient training on machinery and vehicles.
- An employee suffering injury from operating a power tool manufactured using a defective design
Prove Liability of Those Responsible for Your Work Accident Injuries
Demonstrating the negligence of liable parties that contributed to your injuries is critical to obtaining compensation successfully.
Negligence, in law, is proven through four elements:
- Your employer or a third party owes you a duty of care, which refers to their legal obligation to take reasonable measures to ensure the workplace’s safety.
- Your employer or another party breached their duty of care. For example, an employer fails to provide workers with safety gear or proper training.
- The employer or another party’s negligent actions caused your injuries. For example, an employer failing to provide adequate training on how to safely operate a forklift, which results in the operator incurring life-threatening injury after suffering a forklift rollover accident.
- The accident left the victim with bodily harm and other losses, such as medical bills, therapy expenses, and job loss.
Your workplace injury attorney will use various pieces of evidence to prove each element of negligence so that the employer or another at-fault party can be held liable for their role in your injuries.
Establish the Severity of Your Workplace Accident-Related Injuries
Merely providing a list of sustained injuries is not enough to recover compensation. It is also integral to prove the presence of the losses and establish their link to the workplace accident.
We will utilize several pieces of evidence to prove each of your losses. Some examples include:
- Photographs of your visible injuries and the worksite where the accident occurred
- Security footage documenting the accident and the events leading up to it
- The work injury report submitted with the employer and the employer’s statement regarding the accident
- Statements from pedestrians or coworkers who saw your work accident unfold
- Medical records, statements from your attending physician, physical therapists, medication records, X-ray results, and scan results
- Maintenance or repair record of the machine or tool that caused your injuries
- Financial statements, pay stubs, and tax returns to prove income loss
We will also consult with experts to assess the value of anticipated expenses emerging from your injuries.
Negotiate a Fair Settlement on Your Behalf
Negotiation is an integral part of obtaining a reasonable settlement offer. The liable party’s insurance provider may attempt to blame you for the accident, or they may question the validity of your injuries’ extent. They may also offer an initial settlement amount much less than your case’s value.
Your attorney with Domingo Garcia will come prepared with a thorough investigation and supporting evidence that fortifies the offer placed via a demand letter. The attorney will strategically address any low counteroffers from the insurance adjuster until they agree to fair compensation.
Represent Your Work Injury Case in Court
If the liable insurance company does not agree to settle, we will move forward with a civil lawsuit against the employer or a third party.
During litigation, we will handle all the communication with the at-fault party’s legal team, prove negligence and your losses, cross-examine witnesses, and manage all other standard court processes.
Our Odessa Workplace Injury Attorney Handles All Work Injury Cases in Texas
In Texas, 68,750 workers were injured in 2020, states the Texas Department of Insurance (TDI). Sadly, work injuries are common in this state since many employees work in dangerous professions. Odessa is home to some of the most hard-working employees throughout the U.S. It is a blue-collar city with hundreds of workers in oil fields and other industrial facilities.
These are important but high-risk jobs. Workers in energy and similar fields are susceptible to injuries from exposure to toxic chemicals, falling from high elevations, and fires and explosions.
Domingo Garcia represents work injury victims across a broad array of accident types, including:
Construction Accidents
Many variables can pose severe risks to workers on a construction site, from heights and heavy machinery to powerful tools. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), 123 construction worker deaths occurred in 2019.
The common causes of Odessa construction accidents are:
- Accidental falls from heights, stemming from unprotected sides, floor holes, lack of guardrail, safety net, or fall arrest system.
- Electrocution from workers encountering live wires or poorly maintained generators, or other electrical equipment
- Worker getting hit by an improperly secured tool, construction material, or another falling object
- Exposure to dangerous chemicals and other materials such as asbestos, carbon monoxide, lead, and carcinogens
Construction accidents can result in broken bones, lacerations, electrocution, spinal cord injuries, and head injuries.
Auto Accidents
There are many jobs in Odessa requiring workers to drive their own or a company-issued vehicle. When you are involved in a collision while on the job, you may be eligible to seek compensation from the negligent driver, your employer, or a third party, such as the vehicle manufacturer or a government entity.
A few factors that can result in an auto accident include:
- Inadequate vehicle maintenance
- Employers requiring you to drive in inclement weather conditions when your risk of being involved in a crash is high
- The cargo loader overloading the truck or not properly securing the goods
- The other driver engaging in negligent behavior, such as speeding or missing a stop sign.
Work injuries involving company vehicles can be confusing. Our attorney can review your case to determine all the parties that hold liability.
Forklift Accidents
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) classifies forklifts as powered industrial trucks. These are used in various prominent sectors in Odessa, including construction, manufacturing, warehouses, and shipping.
In 2018, 310 Texas workers sustained injuries from forklift accidents, five of which died, according to BLS-Labor statistics.
Common reasons for forklift accidents include:
- Failure to provide forklift operators with proper training
- Not conducting routine inspection and maintenance
- Failure to provide a workplace design that is safe for forklift operation
- Failure to provide warning signage for low clearance or a narrow path
We handle claims for workers injured by forklift accidents, such as forklift rollovers, failing loads, mechanical failure, and collisions.
Defective or Faulty Equipment/Machinery
OSHA lists defective machinery in its top ten contributors to workplace injuries. Many employers forsake safety in lieu of speed and do not follow the laws and regulations governing the inspection and maintenance of heavy machinery used in different sectors. This can place employees at risk of sustaining catastrophic injuries.
In some cases, the liability for sustaining injuries from faulty equipment or machinery may lie with the manufacturer. Some reasons they may hold fault include:
- Providing erroneous or poor operation instructions
- Harmful or dangerous product design
- Using defective parts as a component of the product
- Wrong installation of the equipment
Oilfield Accidents
Some of the most accident-prone oilfield workers include drillers, machine operators, and truck drivers transporting sand and chemicals. Oilfield injuries can range from severe burns, amputations, and even death.
Common causes of oilfield accidents include:
- Oil companies employing inexperienced and unqualified workers
- Failure to implement safety procedures
- Defective drilling tools or equipment causing fires, blowouts, electrocution, and explosion
Texas Limits the Time You Have to File a Work Injury Lawsuit
Texas gives work injury victims a pre-defined time frame to initiate a lawsuit against an employee, contractor, product manufacturer, or another liable party whose negligence resulted in their injuries.
You generally have just two years from the incident date to file a lawsuit, as per Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code § 16.003.
We urge you not to wait and to contact us immediately to file your claim. Starting early gives us enough time to gather time-sensitive evidence, such as security footage before it gets the chance to disappear.
Also, if the liable insurance company does not agree to a fair settlement, we will have enough time to advance with a lawsuit. Seeking a civil action after the statute of limitation expires can get your case dismissed by the court.
Your Odessa work injury attorney will ensure all the paperwork and supporting documents are filed within the deadline, and we will keep you updated throughout the process.
Let Our Work Injury Attorneys in Ector County, TX Lead Your Case
Our lead attorney, Domingo Garcia, has an extensive and strong track record of winning multi-million-dollar verdicts for our clients, including work injury victims throughout Texas.
We understand how much this compensation means to victims who had their lives overturned with crippling injuries and the immense financial burden it accompanies. Our law firm is proud to advocate for the rights of Texas workers who endured significant harm from no fault of their own.
Here are some of the recent settlement verdicts we have won for work injury victims:
- A $5 million settlement in an on-the-job construction accident case where a scaffold collapsing incident left the victim paralyzed
- A $3 million wrongful death settlement for a victim’s family who died after being struck by steel beams from a collapsed crane boom.
- $3.75 million for a victim who is now paraplegic from suffering a fall due to improper guardrail maintenance
- $3.83 million for a victim who died from the collapse of a concrete pump-boom
- 1.075 million for a victim of an oil field blowout incident
With Domingo Garcia handling your case, you can rest assured knowing you are getting relentless representation with the singular goal of helping you get justice and the compensation your circumstances demand.
Work with Our Odessa Work Injury Attorney
If you or a loved one suffered a catastrophic work injury or if you lost someone in a workplace accident, do not hesitate to call us right away. We want to discuss your case over a free, risk-free consultation and explain your rights and options to you.
While you focus on recovery and moving forward with your life after the horrific workplace accident, your dedicated attorney from Domingo Garcia will take care of every aspect of your claim or lawsuit and build you a robust and convincing case.
