Recent Recoveries
- $2,000,000Car crash — litigation settlement
- $1,750,000Slip & fall — litigation settlement
- $1,000,00018-wheeler — litigation settlement
- $850,000Tractor-trailer — litigation settlement
- $650,000Commercial collision — litigation settlement
- $650,000Trucking accident — litigation settlement
- $550,000On-the-job injury — litigation settlement
Prior results do not guarantee or predict a similar outcome in any future case. Every case is decided on its own facts.
Dallas has been under construction for twenty years and shows no sign of stopping. Towers downtown, warehouses along the interstates, roadwork on every corridor in the county — all of it built by people working at height, around machinery and beside live traffic.
When one of them is hurt, the response is quick and it is well practised. There is an incident report by the afternoon, a clinic the company has an arrangement with, and a clipboard of paperwork in a trailer. What there is not is anybody whose job is to explain what you just gave up.
The first week decides most of what follows. The trench gets filled, the scaffold comes down, the crew moves to the next job, and somebody asks you to sign something before you have read it. None of that has to be handled by you, and almost none of it should be.
Free case review
You talk to the lawyer who would try it, not to an intake screener.
No fee unless we win
Nothing up front. The fee comes out of the recovery, or there is none.
We check the coverage first
Whether your employer carries comp decides the whole case. We look it up on the first call.
Where It Starts
The question that decides your whole case
It is not how you were hurt. It is whether the company on your pay stub bought workers’ compensation — because Texas is the only state that lets it choose not to, and the answer changes what you can recover and from whom.
Everywhere else in the country, an employer carries workers’ compensation because the law says it must. In Texas it is a choice, and a great many construction employers make the other one.
Nobody explains this on the day you are hurt. You are handed a clipboard in a trailer, told to sign where the tabs are, and sent to a clinic somebody else picked. What you signed and what happens next depend entirely on a fact you were never told, and it takes about a minute to look up.
Here is the part worth reading twice. An employer that opted out of the system does not get the protection that comes with it. It can be sued directly — and under Labor Code §406.033 it may not argue that you were careless, that you knew the job was dangerous, or that a co-worker did it. Those three arguments are how workplace injury cases are usually defended. A non-subscriber has to face a jury without any of them.
Most injured workers assume the cheque their employer offers is what the law allows them. On a construction site it is rarely the only thing that could be paying.
Aaron Genthe · Founder
- 01
Texas lets employers opt out
It is the only state that does. Your employer either bought workers’ compensation or it did not, and nobody tells you which on the day you are hurt.
- 02
Opting out costs them their defences
A non-subscriber cannot argue you were careless, that you knew the job was dangerous, or that a co-worker did it. Labor Code §406.033 strips all three. They have to prove they were not negligent at all.
- 03
The biggest cheque is rarely your employer’s
Sites run on subcontracts. The general contractor, the site owner, the crane company and the maker of the machine that failed are all separate defendants, and none of them is shielded by your comp benefits.
How It Happens
The eight ways people are hurt on a site
The first four are what OSHA calls the Focus Four, and between them they account for most construction deaths in the country.
- 01Falls from heightRoofs, scaffolds, leading edges, ladders and unguarded floor openings. The leading cause of death in construction, and the one most often traced to a guardrail or an anchor point that was never there.
- 02Struck by an objectA dropped load, a swinging bucket, a collapsing stack, a vehicle reversing in a work zone. Usually somebody else’s crew, which usually means somebody else’s policy.
- 03Caught in or betweenTrench and excavation collapse, machinery that restarted while it was being cleared, a worker pinned between a vehicle and a fixed object. Trenching failures are rarely survivable and almost never unforeseeable.
- 04ElectrocutionOverhead lines struck by a boom or a ladder, live circuits that were supposed to be locked out, temporary power run wet. Survivors are often left with cardiac and neurological injuries that present late.
- 05Equipment and machinery failureA hoist brake, a hydraulic line, a missing guard, a worn sling. Where the machine itself was defective the manufacturer is a defendant, and that is a different claim with a different insurer behind it.
- 06Crane, forklift and hoist accidentsRigging that failed, a load that was never inside the chart, a signal nobody was giving. The crane is usually leased with an operator, so the leasing company is in the case alongside the contractor.
- 07Fire, explosion and chemical exposureCutting into a live line, compressed gas, welding near solvent, silica and caustics without the respirator the job called for. Burn and inhalation injuries run to years of treatment.
- 08Roadway and work-zone injuriesStruck by traffic in a lane closure, or hurt by a work zone left unlit and unsigned. Where a public body set the zone the claim is against a government, on a far shorter clock.
Liability
Who can be held responsible
A single project runs on dozens of companies under layers of subcontract. The one that signs your cheque is rarely the only one that owed you a duty, and often is not the one that pays.
The general contractor
The GC controls the site, sets the schedule and is usually the party OSHA cites. In Texas a general contractor that retains control over the manner of the work — or that actually exercises it — owes a duty of care to a subcontractor’s employees, and that is exactly what the contracts, the safety programme and the daily logs establish.
Another subcontractor
The most common defendant on a site injury and the one workers least expect, because the crew that dropped the load or left the opening undecked works for a different company altogether.
The property owner
An owner who keeps control of the premises, or who knew about a hazard the contractor did not create — buried utilities, a structure that was not what the drawings said, existing contamination — can be liable for it under ordinary premises law.
The manufacturer, supplier or lessor
Where a machine, a lift, a sling, a scaffold component or a material was defective, the claim is a products claim against whoever made, sold or leased it. It does not require anybody on the site to have been careless at all, and the insurer behind it is usually a large one.
The designers, engineers and safety consultants
Architects, engineers and retained safety consultants are liable for their own professional negligence — a design that could not be built safely, a shoring plan that was never sealed, an inspection that was signed for and not done.
Case Value
What your claim can actually include
“What is my case worth?” is the first question on nearly every call, and no honest answer comes before the treatment is understood.
Economic losses
The half of the claim proved with paper. Keep every bill, every receipt and every pay stub, including the overtime.
Medical treatment
Ambulance, ER, imaging, surgery, hardware, rehabilitation and the care still ahead of you — not only the bills already printed.
Lost income
The wages you have already lost, counted on what you actually earned. Construction pay is overtime and per-diem as well as base rate, and an adjuster will use the base rate if you let them.
Lost earning capacity
The largest number in most serious site claims. A back, a shoulder or a hand that ends a trade is not a wage claim for a few months, it is the difference between what you would have earned for the rest of your working life and what you can earn now.
Future care
Revision surgery, pain management, prosthetics, home modification and attendant care, valued by a life care planner rather than guessed at.
Out-of-pocket costs
Prescriptions, braces, mobility equipment, mileage to treatment, and the help at home you had to pay somebody for.
Non-economic losses
The half no invoice arrives for — and the half workers’ compensation does not pay at all, which is the plainest reason a third-party claim is worth bringing.
Pain and suffering
The physical toll of the injury and of the treatment it took to put right, over the months or years it actually took.
Physical impairment
What you can no longer do — climb, kneel, grip, lift over your head, or stand through a shift.
Disfigurement
Burns, scarring, grafts and amputation, valued separately from the surgery that caused or repaired them.
Mental anguish
Sleep, temper, the flinch on a ladder, and the men who never go back on a site at all.
Loss of consortium
A claim belonging to a spouse or a parent for what a catastrophic injury took out of the relationship.
OSHA
Your rights on site, and what a citation is worth
OSHA gives every construction worker a set of rights that do not depend on their employer’s goodwill — and an inspection produces the one investigation of your accident that nobody can call ours.
What OSHA guarantees you
A workplace free of recognised hazards, training you can understand, the protective equipment the job calls for, and information about the chemicals you work around. These are duties on your employer, not courtesies.
You can report, and you can ask for an inspection
Any worker may file a complaint and ask OSHA to inspect, and may ask that their name not be given to the employer.
Retaliation for it is itself illegal
Firing, demoting, cutting hours or reassigning someone for raising a safety concern or reporting an injury is prohibited, and the complaint window for retaliation is short — a matter of weeks, not years.
What an OSHA citation actually does for your claim
It does not decide it. A citation is not a court finding that anybody owes you money, and an employer can be cited without you recovering a dollar — the fine is paid to the government, not to you.
Texas Law
The six rules that decide a worker’s claim
Even where the accident was plainly somebody’s fault, Texas law shapes what you recover. These six decide most of it, and the second is the one injured workers most often have no idea about.
Two years to file — and much less than that against a city
Texas gives you two years from the injury to file suit in most cases. Miss it and the claim is gone however strong it was.
A non-subscriber loses three defences
Labor Code §406.033 bars a non-subscribing employer from arguing contributory negligence, assumption of the risk, or that a fellow employee caused the injury. It is the strongest position an injured worker can be in and most people in it have no idea.
Your share of the blame comes off the top — up to a point
Against everyone else, Texas applies modified comparative fault. If you are found partly responsible your recovery is reduced by your percentage; at 51% you recover nothing.
The comp bar covers your employer only
If your employer subscribes you generally cannot sue it — and that immunity is personal to it.
The comp carrier will want its money back
Where benefits have been paid and you then recover from a third party, the carrier has a subrogation interest in the recovery. It is normal, it is negotiable, and how well it is negotiated makes a real difference to what actually reaches you.
Undocumented workers have these rights too
Immigration status does not bar a personal injury claim in Texas, and it is generally not something the defence is entitled to put in front of a jury.
The Process
What happens when you call us
If you have never worked with a lawyer before you may feel overwhelmed, or a little suspicious.
- 01
Free case review
You call or message. We ask what happened, who you work for, who else was on the site, and what you have been asked to sign.
- 02
We find out how you are covered
We run your employer through the state coverage search that day. Whether they subscribe decides which case you have, and you should not have to guess at it.
- 03
We preserve the site and the paperwork
Letters go out before the trench is filled and the trailer is emptied — inspection logs, toolbox talks, the subcontracts, the OSHA file and the names of the crew.
- 04
We build it and we negotiate
Future care, lost earning capacity and impairment valued properly, every policy identified, and suit filed against everyone responsible if the numbers will not move.
- 05
You get paid
We go through the settlement line by line, including what the comp carrier is owed and what we got that reduced. Nobody leaves here wondering what just happened.
Client Reviews
What our clients say about us
None of these was left by a construction worker — they are people this firm represented after somebody else’s negligence hurt them, published as they wrote it.
Rated five out of five stars
“Mr. Genthe and his staff were instrumental the my path to recovery both physically and financially!!! The providers they used to help me out of pain and discomfort were amazing! Everyone help me so much throughout this hectic claims process…a job well done!!”
Saed Abusaad
Rated five out of five stars
“They work really hard for you and know what they’re doing. They are thorough… each one was kind but honest with the progress and possible outcomes. I feel like they undersold what they can do.”
Phoebe Sembel
Rated five out of five stars
“He took the time to directly communicate with me throughout the time the case was pending… He explained the case procedures and progress in detail to help me understand where the case was at and what the next steps were.”
Vykim Le
Your Attorney
The lawyer who works your case
This page has promised you a real attorney rather than a call centre several times over. It is only fair to say who that is.
Founder · Trial Attorney
Aaron Genthe
A Texas A&M graduate who went into personal injury straight out of law school, Aaron spent years as a litigator at one of the larger firms in Dallas — long enough to build a reputation as an aggressive and effective attorney, and long enough to watch how easily a client becomes a file number at a firm that size.
He started Genthe Law Firm so that the person you speak to about your injury is the person who tries it. He has litigated injury cases across Dallas County and North Texas since, including the ones brought by the people who build this city and are treated as replaceable when it hurts them.
- Practising since
- 2015
- Cases handled
- Hundreds, in Dallas and across Texas
- Education
- Texas A&M graduate
- Fee
- Contingency — nothing unless you recover
Questions
Construction accident FAQs
The questions injured workers ask on the first call, answered the way we answer them on the phone.
Can I sue if I am already getting workers’ compensation?
Not usually your own employer — that is the trade comp makes. But you can sue anybody else whose negligence contributed, and on a construction site there is nearly always somebody else: the general contractor, another subcontractor, the site owner, the equipment company or the manufacturer.
How do I find out whether my employer has workers’ compensation?
The Texas Department of Insurance runs a free coverage verification search. Use the formal legal name from your pay stub, with the Inc., LLC or Co. — the name on the truck is often not the entity that employs you.
My employer says I have to sign their injury plan paperwork. Should I?
Not before somebody has read it. A non-subscriber’s “occupational injury plan” is a private contract the employer wrote, and the documents handed to an injured worker in the first week frequently include an arbitration agreement or a release.
What if I am being blamed for the accident?
It depends entirely on who you are claiming against. A non-subscribing employer is not allowed to make that argument at all — Labor Code §406.033 removes contributory negligence and assumption of risk from them.
Can I be fired for reporting an injury or a safety problem?
It is illegal, both under OSHA’s whistleblower protections and under Texas law protecting workers who file a comp claim in good faith. That does not mean it never happens.
Also Handled Here
If your injury was something else
The neighbouring claims this firm litigates most often, including the ones that reach a site from the road.
- 01Slip & FallFalls on premises rather than on a site
- 02Traumatic Brain InjuryHead injury from a fall or a struck-by
- 03Wrongful DeathClaims brought by a surviving family
- 04Truck AccidentsDump trucks, haulers and site deliveries
- 05Car AccidentsStruck by traffic in a lane closure
- 06Pedestrian AccidentsFlaggers and workers on foot
- 07Motorcycle AccidentsRiders brought down by work-zone hazards
- 08Bicycle AccidentsRiders and unlit roadworks
Read more on being hurt at work
- Hurt at Work? Workers’ Comp Non-Subscribers in TexasThe rule this whole page turns on
- Workers’ Comp vs. Personal Injury Lawsuit in TexasWhich door you are standing in front of
- Who Can Sue for a Wrongful Death in a Construction Accident?When the family brings the claim
- What is Vicarious Liability in Texas?Why the contractor answers for the crew
- Proving Negligence in a Texas Premises CaseWhat a hazard claim has to show
- When Should You Hire an Accident Reconstructionist?Machinery, collapses and how a failure is proved
