Find Who May Owe You Injury Compensation
A Dallas construction accident lawyer must identify the employer, task, equipment and companies controlling the work. A project sign may not name the business that directed the activity or supplied the hazard. Genthe investigates those roles alongside your injury and coverage.
Jump to the FAQs. Our intake team answers 24/7 and arranges attorney follow-up.
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.
Client Reviews
What our clients say about us
Selected reviews reproduced as written and attributed to their authors. These describe individual experiences with the firm, not promised results or necessarily construction matters.
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
Meet Aaron Genthe, founder of Genthe Law Firm, who represents injured people in Dallas and throughout Texas.
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.
- Practicing since
- 2015
- Education
- Texas A&M graduate
- Fee
- Contingency — nothing unless you recover
Representation built around your case
Get Aggressive Help After a Worksite Injury
A Dallas construction accident attorney may need to separate employer coverage, site control and several companies’ duties before choosing the right claim strategy.
01 · Individual case strategy
Your Worksite Injury Gets Its Own Strategy
A jobsite injury should not be rushed into the first available claim route.
We investigate the assigned work, equipment, controlling relationships and coverage documents together. The approach is tailored to how the injury occurred and which duties need examination. Your case is developed beyond a general assertion that every company on the site shares the same responsibility.
02 · Attorney-led representation
Get Personal Answers From Your Injury Lawyer
Employer paperwork and another contractor’s conduct raise different legal questions.
Your lawyer evaluates those relationships and explains the choices the available records support. Paralegals assist with collecting reports, messages and benefit documents while the attorney directs the strategy. You get legal guidance about the work activity instead of being left to reconcile several companies’ explanations alone.
Meet the Genthe team
03 · Trial-ready advocacy
We Prepare for Trial Against Responsible Businesses
The claim needs proof of who controlled the relevant work or condition.
Genthe prepares the role, incident and injury evidence with potential litigation in view. Our willingness to take a supported claim to court helps us challenge attempts to shift responsibility between businesses and pursue recovery based on the actual construction accident.
We examine the task, equipment and controlling relationships before recommending a strategy. A free consultation lets you discuss the scope and written fee arrangement before representation.
Where It Starts
Construction Employers and Workers’ Compensation Coverage
The employer, the contractor directing a task and the supplier of equipment may be different businesses. A site investigation starts by separating those roles.
On a construction project, the company that employs an injured worker may differ from the contractor directing a task, the business that supplied equipment or the company making a delivery. Identify those roles before assuming that one employer form describes the whole incident.
Collect the job assignment, site location, supervisor details and any incident paperwork. Photograph company names on vehicles or equipment when it is safe to do so. Preserve the sequence of instructions and work activities rather than grouping every business on the site under the same label.
A non-subscribing employer loses certain defenses under Labor Code §406.033, including contributory negligence, assumption of risk and the fellow-employee defense. The injured worker still must prove employer or employee negligence and causation. Coverage, statutory exceptions and the actual employment relationship must be checked.
Most injured workers assume the check 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
Check the employer’s coverage
Many Texas private employers may opt out of workers’ compensation, subject to exceptions. Verify the legal employer and coverage on the injury date.
- 02
Different defenses apply to non-subscribers
Section 406.033 removes specified defenses, but does not reverse the worker’s burden to prove negligence and causation.
- 03
Investigate other site participants
Another contractor, equipment provider or property owner may require investigation. Presence on site alone does not establish a duty or liability, and some parties may share statutory employer protection.
How It Happens
Common Dallas Construction Accident Claims
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. Responsibility depends on the task, control, equipment and supported evidence.
- 02Struck by an objectA dropped load, a swinging bucket, a collapsing stack, a vehicle reversing in a work zone. Responsibility depends on the task, control, equipment and supported evidence.
- 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. Responsibility depends on the task, control, equipment and supported evidence.
- 04ElectrocutionOverhead lines struck by a boom or a ladder, live circuits that were supposed to be locked out, temporary power run wet. Responsibility depends on the task, control, equipment and supported evidence.
- 05Equipment and machinery failureA hoist brake, a hydraulic line, a missing guard, a worn sling. Responsibility depends on the task, control, equipment and supported evidence.
- 06Crane, forklift and hoist accidentsRigging that failed, a load that was never inside the chart, a signal nobody was giving. Responsibility depends on the task, control, equipment and supported evidence.
- 07Fire, explosion and chemical exposureCutting into a live line, compressed gas, welding near solvent, silica and caustics without the respirator the job called for. Responsibility depends on the task, control, equipment and supported evidence.
- 08Roadway and work-zone injuriesStruck by traffic in a lane closure, or hurt by a work zone left unlit and unsigned. Responsibility depends on the task, control, equipment and supported evidence.
Liability
Who Is Liable for a Construction Injury?
A single project runs on dozens of companies under layers of subcontract. The one that signs your paycheck is rarely the only one that owed you a duty, and often is not the one that pays.
The general contractor
A general contractor’s duty may depend on retained or exercised control over the injury-producing work and other applicable law. A safety program or job title alone does not establish liability. Contracts, instructions and actual conduct matter; workers’ compensation arrangements may also extend employer protection to other participants.
Another subcontractor
Another subcontractor may be responsible for its own negligent conduct that caused the injury, subject to the governing duties and any statutory protection. Identify the task, crew and specific conduct instead of assuming every business on site is a separate suable party.
The property owner
CPRC Chapter 95 may apply to an owner and injuries to a contractor’s workers arising from constructing, repairing, renovating or modifying an improvement. Section 95.003 generally requires qualifying control plus actual knowledge of the danger and failure to warn adequately. Other claims require their own duty analysis; ordinary premises rules cannot simply be assumed.
The manufacturer, supplier or lessor
A defective product may support a claim involving a manufacturer or another legally responsible participant. Defect, causation, seller protections, statutory requirements and applicable deadlines must be established; not every supplier or lessor is liable because its equipment was present.
The designers, engineers and safety consultants
A designer or consultant may owe professional or contractual duties relevant to the injury. Claims against design professionals can trigger CPRC §150.002’s certificate-of-merit requirements and other procedural defenses. A role on the project alone is not proof of negligence.
Find Who Controlled the Task That Hurt
Map the task and companies
Write down the assigned work, sequence, supervisor and crew. Identify which company each person represented and who issued instructions rather than merely witnessing events. Mark uncertain roles instead of guessing; presence at a project alone does not establish responsibility.
Identify the equipment and area
Save existing photographs, equipment labels, access points and witness contacts. Identify the scaffold, opening, tool, vehicle or stored-energy source, its location and custodian before the site changes. Do not enter restricted or unsafe areas to collect more.
Keep the original reporting trail
Retain the first incident report, supervisor messages, employer notices, insurer letters, wages and benefit correspondence. Note who received each notice: reporting to one site company may not notify every employer or insurer. Bring injury-plan forms, releases and documents whose purpose is unclear before signing.
Connect control with coverage
Contracts and actual control can matter alongside ownership. Property-owner, design-professional, shared-employer and statutory-protection issues require review. Employer benefits and a separate contractor or manufacturer’s conduct are different questions; lack of workers’ compensation alone does not prove negligence or causation.
Questions for your consultation
Ask who controlled the task, how employer coverage and another company’s conduct fit together, and what an incident form would resolve. You can inquire without knowing the whole contractor chain. Your task, employer and existing documents are enough to start.
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
OSHA Rights After a Construction Accident
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 recognized 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
OSHA §11(c) protects qualifying safety activity against retaliation. Its complaint deadline is generally 30 days from the retaliatory act. Texas Labor Code §451.001 separately protects specified workers’ compensation claim activity. These protections have different requirements and do not make every employment dispute the same claim.
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
Texas Construction Injury Laws and Filing Deadlines
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
CPRC §16.003 generally sets two years for an ordinary injury lawsuit. A workers’ compensation claim has separate requirements, generally 30-day employer notice and a one-year Division claim, subject to exceptions. Legally permitted government tort claims may require §101.101 notice, generally six months or an earlier charter period. These are different claim routes.
A non-subscriber loses three defenses
Labor Code §406.033 removes specified defenses from a covered non-subscriber negligence action. The worker still must establish negligence and causation. Do not apply ordinary comparative-fault summaries to that action without checking the statute.
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.
Workers’ compensation protection can extend beyond one company
Labor Code §408.001 generally makes benefits the exclusive remedy against a covered employer and its agents or employees, with limited exceptions. Contractor-provided coverage may create additional statutory-employer relationships under §406.123. Investigate the coverage arrangement before treating every other site participant as an unprotected third party.
The comp carrier will want its money back
Labor Code §417.001 addresses a compensation carrier’s reimbursement and subrogation interests in a third-party recovery. The amount and available allocation or negotiation depend on the law and facts; a reduction is not guaranteed.
Undocumented workers have these rights too
Immigration status does not automatically prevent a Texas personal-injury claim. It can raise sensitive issues concerning particular damages or evidence. Discuss those privately with counsel rather than assuming the same answer applies to every issue.
The Process
What happens when you call us
- 01
Separate the site participants
Identify the direct employer, project contractor, other trades and equipment providers. Record the role each appears to have played without assuming that presence alone establishes responsibility.
- 02
Describe the assigned task
Keep the work order, instructions and names of the people directing the activity. Note whether the injured worker’s actual task differed from the one described afterward.
- 03
Preserve the site condition
Document the location and equipment before repair or removal where safely possible. Retain the incident reference and identify witnesses from each crew.
- 04
Check the possible claims routes
Review employer coverage and whether another party’s conduct needs investigation. Contracts and actual control can raise different questions from the company’s name on a badge or fence.
- 05
Connect proof to losses
Organize treatment, work restrictions and wage records alongside the incident evidence. Review any proposed release or plan paperwork before assuming it resolves only one part of the matter.
Across North Texas
Construction accident cases across Dallas–Fort Worth
Whether your employer carries workers’ comp decides where the claim goes. Where the site is decides which county hears it.
We represent workers hurt on job sites throughout the Metroplex: towers downtown and in Uptown, warehouse and distribution projects along I-20 and I-35, highway work on LBJ and the tollways, and residential construction in Frisco, McKinney, Prosper and Celina, across Dallas, Collin, Denton and Tarrant counties.
A construction injury case can usually be filed in the county where the accident happened. Our office is on Coit Road in North Dallas, and we meet clients wherever is easiest for them.
Construction accident FAQs
Can I sue if I am already getting workers’ compensation?
Benefits generally replace a negligence suit against a covered employer and protected agents or employees. A claim against a legally responsible third party may still exist, but contractor-provided coverage can extend employer protection. Review the contracts, coverage and conduct before deciding who can be sued.
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?
The answer depends on the claim. Section 406.033 removes specified defenses in a non-subscriber action, while the worker still proves negligence and causation. Ordinary third-party claims can have Chapter 33 comparative-responsibility rules. An employer’s accusation does not decide either route.
Can I be fired for reporting an injury or a safety problem?
OSHA §11(c) and Texas Labor Code §451.001 protect different qualifying activities and have different requirements. OSHA retaliation complaints generally have a 30-day deadline. Preserve the report, communications and dates, and promptly ask which protection applies.
Do you handle construction accident cases outside Dallas?
Yes. We are based in North Dallas and handle construction accident cases across Dallas, Collin, Denton and Tarrant counties, including Plano, Frisco, Richardson, Garland, Irving, Arlington and Fort Worth, and elsewhere in Texas when we can help.
Why do you need the names of subcontractors at the site?
A construction project can involve several businesses with different tasks and authority. Names, assignments and witness details help identify whose conduct or control requires investigation. A company is not responsible merely because its crew was nearby; the review needs a factual connection to the work and condition involved.
What should I keep if the equipment is removed after my injury?
Preserve photographs, the equipment’s identifying information, inspection or work paperwork you lawfully hold, and the names of people who saw its condition. Tell the attorney where it was moved if known. Do not return to a restricted worksite or attempt an unsafe inspection to collect evidence.
What should I identify about the Dallas construction task that injured me?
Record the assigned work, supervisor, crew and equipment involved. The company directing a specific activity may differ from the property owner or general contractor named on the project’s sign.
Does an OSHA complaint preserve my civil claim deadline?
Do not assume it does. A safety report, compensation claim and lawsuit are different processes. Give counsel the dates and submissions so any separate requirements can be checked.
Which documents help distinguish my employer from a subcontractor?
Bring pay records, hiring documents, work instructions and the businesses named in incident paperwork. Trade names and uniforms can be misleading when several entities supply workers or direct parts of a project.
What if a scaffold or temporary platform is dismantled afterward?
Preserve existing photographs, the location, identifying information and witness contacts. Tell counsel who controlled or removed it; do not re-enter a restricted site or attempt to reconstruct an unsafe setup yourself.
How can I document who controlled a dangerous work method?
Keep the actual instructions, messages, task assignments and names of people authorized to stop or change the work. A job title alone may not establish what control was exercised over the relevant activity.
Does a Dallas employer’s private injury plan mean it carries workers’ compensation?
Not necessarily. Bring the plan and employer’s coverage notice. Texas DWC offers coverage-verification resources; the plan’s name or a supervisor’s general description should not be treated as proof of the arrangement.
What should I record about an electrical or stored-energy incident?
Identify the equipment, assigned task, isolation steps you observed and people involved. Leave technical cause findings to qualified examination and do not touch energized or unstable equipment to gather evidence.
Could a delivery driver or equipment supplier matter to the investigation?
Possibly, if its conduct or equipment connects to the injury. Identify the delivery, item and sequence rather than naming every outside company present without a factual basis.
How do medical restrictions affect a construction work-loss file?
Keep the restrictions with the actual physical job duties, offered modified work and earnings records. A general note saying light duty may need context about the lifting, climbing or tool use required.
What can Genthe evaluate before I know every contractor’s legal name?
Start with the site, incident date, employer and documents you hold. The review can identify relationships requiring further investigation without expecting an injured worker to reconstruct the entire contracting chain first.