Third-party negligence claims for Bergen County construction, warehouse and jobsite injuries — filed alongside your New Jersey workers’ compensation case, coordinated so the lien doesn’t eat the recovery.
Hackensack Personal Injury Lawyers represents workers injured on Bergen County construction sites, in warehouses across the I-80 and Route 17 corridors, in delivery and transportation roles, and on any other jobsite where the injury came from something other than the worker’s own carelessness. Almost every serious workplace injury in New Jersey has two potential claims: a workers’ compensation claim against the employer, and a third-party negligence lawsuit against everyone else on the site. The two run in parallel and the second is often much more valuable.
New Jersey workers’ compensation is a no-fault system. The injured worker is entitled to medical treatment, a percentage of weekly wages, and a permanency award, without proving anyone was at fault. In exchange, the worker generally cannot sue the employer for negligence. That trade-off works reasonably well for straightforward injuries and works badly for anything catastrophic — the wage benefits are capped, the permanency schedule undercompensates serious injuries, and there is no recovery for pain and suffering at all.
The third-party claim is what closes that gap. On a construction site, that usually means the general contractor, the site owner, the subcontractor responsible for the trade whose work caused the injury, and the manufacturer of any defective equipment. On a delivery route it means the driver who caused the collision and their carrier. In a warehouse it can mean the equipment manufacturer or the property owner. Any of them can be pursued in a standard negligence action without the workers’ comp bar applying.
OSHA violations do not create private rights of action — a worker cannot sue the employer for an OSHA violation. But OSHA citations and the underlying inspection files are admissible evidence of the standard of care in a third-party case against a general contractor or site owner. Getting the OSHA file through a FOIA request early is one of the first steps we take on any serious construction case.
Report the injury to the employer in writing immediately — untimely reports are the most common workers’ comp denial. Get medical attention through the workers’ compensation authorised provider (New Jersey employers control the choice of treating doctor for comp purposes; you can see anyone for a second opinion at your own expense). Photograph the equipment, the site conditions and any obvious defect before the site is cleaned or the equipment is moved. Take the names of every contractor and subcontractor on site — the vests, the site trailer signs, whatever you can see.
Bergen County construction and workplace cases are filed at the Hackensack courthouse. If the injury involved federal contractors or federal property, the case may proceed in federal court in Newark instead — which changes the procedural calendar and the jury pool.
The third-party case runs alongside your workers’ comp claim and is usually the more valuable of the two. Request a free case evaluation — a Bergen County personal injury attorney will review the police report, medical records and the insurance policies in play, and give you an honest read on the case before you commit to anything.
Related: Slip and fall · Wrongful death claims
The third-party negligence case runs alongside your workers’ comp claim and is usually the more valuable of the two. Request a free case evaluation or scroll up to the contact form — a Bergen County personal injury attorney reviews every enquiry.