- | By Steele & Ferguson, P.C.
Yes. If you were injured in a scaffolding accident in Michigan, you may be able to file a workers’ compensation claim and sue a negligent third party responsible for the accident. However, Michigan law generally prevents employees from suing their direct employers for ordinary negligence.
Construction sites often involve multiple contractors, subcontractors, property owners, equipment companies and scaffold installers. If someone other than your employer caused the scaffolding accident, you may have a separate personal injury claim in addition to workers’ compensation.
The Michigan workers’ compensation lawyers at Steele Law can investigate the accident, identify every responsible party and fight for all compensation available under Michigan law.
Can I Sue After a Scaffolding Accident in Michigan?
You may be able to sue after a Michigan scaffolding accident when a person or company other than your employer contributed to your injuries.
Michigan law generally makes workers’ compensation an injured employee’s exclusive remedy against the employer. The primary exception is an intentional tort, which requires far more than ordinary carelessness or even a serious safety violation. Michigan law requires a deliberate act and a specific intent to injure, or actual knowledge that an injury was certain to occur followed by willful disregard of that knowledge.
However, Michigan law also permits an injured employee to pursue a claim against a legally responsible third party while receiving workers’ compensation benefits. Accepting workers’ compensation does not automatically prevent the worker from filing that separate lawsuit.
Who Can Be Sued After a Michigan Scaffolding Accident?
Every construction accident is different. Potentially responsible third parties may include:
- A general contractor that is not your direct employer
- Another subcontractor working on the site
- The company that erected or dismantled the scaffold
- A property owner
- A scaffold rental or maintenance company
- A manufacturer of defective scaffolding components
- An equipment supplier
- An architect, engineer or project manager
- A driver or equipment operator who struck the scaffold
Whether one of these parties can be held liable depends on that party’s legal duties, control over the work, conduct and connection to the accident.
The fact that a company was present at the job site does not automatically make it responsible. Evidence must show that the company’s negligence or defective product contributed to the injury.
Can I Sue My Employer for a Scaffolding Accident?
Usually, no.
Workers’ compensation is generally the exclusive remedy against a Michigan employer for an accidental workplace injury. This means an injured worker typically files for workers’ compensation benefits instead of suing the employer for negligence.
A violation of a safety rule does not automatically create the right to sue the employer. The intentional-tort exception under Michigan law is narrow and requires evidence beyond ordinary negligence.
Even when you cannot sue your employer, you may still have a strong third-party case against another company involved with the scaffold or construction project.
Can I Receive Workers’ Compensation and File a Lawsuit?
Yes. You may be able to pursue both claims at the same time.
A workers’ compensation claim may provide:
- Reasonable and necessary medical care
- Wage-loss benefits
- Vocational rehabilitation
- Certain death and burial benefits
Michigan’s Workers’ Disability Compensation Agency states that covered workers may receive specified medical, wage-loss and rehabilitation benefits.
A third-party personal injury lawsuit may seek additional damages that workers’ compensation does not ordinarily provide, including:
- Pain and suffering
- Emotional distress
- Loss of enjoyment of life
- Full past and future lost earnings
- Loss of future earning capacity
- Permanent disability
- Scarring and disfigurement
- Loss of consortium
- Other damages allowed under Michigan law
Michigan’s third-party liability statute allows the injured employee to recover the damages available in a tort action.
Will Workers’ Compensation Be Repaid From My Lawsuit?
Possibly.
When workers’ compensation has paid benefits for an injury caused by a third party, the employer or insurance carrier may have a reimbursement interest in part of the third-party recovery.
Michigan law generally requires recovery expenses, including qualifying attorney fees and litigation costs, to be considered before reimbursement. The remaining balance is paid to the injured worker and may affect future workers’ compensation payments.
This is one reason workers’ compensation and third-party claims should be coordinated carefully. Resolving one claim without accounting for the other can affect the injured worker’s net recovery and future benefits.
What Causes Scaffolding Accidents?
Scaffolding accidents commonly involve:
- Missing or inadequate guardrails
- Missing personal fall-arrest systems
- Unstable scaffold supports
- Improper assembly
- Defective platforms or planks
- Scaffold collapse
- Overloaded platforms
- Unsafe ladders or access points
- Falling tools, materials or debris
- Slippery surfaces
- Contact with overhead power lines
- Failure to inspect the scaffold
- Inadequate worker training
- Scaffolding erected by unqualified workers
OSHA identifies falls, structural collapse, falling objects and electrocution as major hazards associated with scaffold work.
Michigan also maintains construction safety standards specifically addressing scaffolds and scaffold platforms.
What Injuries Can a Scaffolding Accident Cause?
A fall or scaffold collapse can cause catastrophic and permanent injuries, including:
- Traumatic brain injuries
- Spinal cord injuries
- Paralysis
- Back and neck injuries
- Herniated discs
- Broken bones
- Shoulder and knee injuries
- Internal organ damage
- Crush injuries
- Nerve damage
- Severe cuts and scarring
- Amputations
- Psychological trauma
- Fatal injuries
Even when an injured worker initially believes the injury is minor, symptoms involving the brain, spine, nerves or internal organs may worsen later. Prompt medical treatment creates a record of the injuries and helps protect the worker’s health and legal rights.
What Should I Do After a Scaffolding Accident?
Take these steps as soon as possible:
1. Get Emergency Medical Care
Do not delay treatment for a serious fall, head injury, back injury or crush injury. Tell the medical provider that the injury happened while you were working.
2. Report the Accident Immediately
Notify your supervisor, foreman or employer in writing. Include the date, time, location and a brief description of what happened.
Michigan advises workers to report an injury immediately. The state generally requires notice to the employer within 90 days and allows up to two years to bring a workers’ compensation claim, subject to the specific facts and legal rules involved.
3. Photograph the Scene
When safely possible, photograph:
- The entire scaffold
- Missing guardrails
- Broken planks
- Harnesses and anchor points
- Ladders and access areas
- Scaffold supports
- Debris
- Warning signs
- Weather and surface conditions
- Equipment near the scaffold
Construction sites change quickly. The scaffold may be repaired, moved or dismantled shortly after the accident.
4. Identify Witnesses
Get the names and contact information of coworkers, subcontractors, supervisors and anyone else who saw the accident or unsafe condition.
5. Preserve Your Equipment
Do not throw away or alter a damaged helmet, harness, lanyard, tool, boot or other equipment connected to the accident.
6. Do Not Sign Away Your Rights
Do not sign a settlement, release or recorded statement without understanding how it could affect your workers’ compensation and third-party claims.
7. Contact a Michigan Workers’ Compensation Lawyer
An attorney can identify the companies involved, preserve evidence, obtain contracts and inspection records, review safety violations and determine whether both workers’ compensation and third-party claims are available.
How Long Do I Have to Sue After a Scaffolding Accident?
Michigan generally provides a three-year limitations period for personal injury lawsuits, measured from the time of injury.
However, different deadlines and notice requirements may apply depending on:
- The identity of the defendant
- Whether government property or a public project was involved
- The legal theory being pursued
- When the injury or disability became apparent
- Whether a workers’ compensation claim was properly reported
- Other case-specific circumstances
Do not assume you have three full years to act. Critical evidence can disappear within days, and Michigan generally expects notice of a work injury within 90 days.
What Evidence Can Help Prove a Scaffolding Accident Case?
Important evidence may include:
- Photographs and video
- Witness statements
- Surveillance footage
- Incident reports
- MIOSHA investigation records
- Scaffold inspection documents
- Training records
- Safety meeting records
- Construction contracts
- Subcontractor agreements
- Equipment rental records
- Maintenance records
- Scaffold assembly instructions
- Product warnings
- Medical records
- Wage statements
- Expert engineering analysis
The responsible companies may control much of this evidence. A lawyer can send preservation notices and pursue records before they are lost, changed or destroyed.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I sue if I fell from scaffolding while working?
You may be able to sue a negligent third party, such as another contractor, scaffold company, property owner or equipment manufacturer. You will generally pursue workers’ compensation benefits from your direct employer.
What if I was not wearing a safety harness?
You may still qualify for workers’ compensation because workers’ compensation is not ordinarily based on proving employer negligence. A missing harness may affect a third-party negligence case depending on who was responsible for providing fall protection, training and supervision.
What if the scaffold collapsed?
A collapse may indicate improper assembly, unstable supports, overloading, defective materials, inadequate inspection or another dangerous condition. The scaffold should be examined before it is removed or repaired whenever possible.
What if a falling object hit me while I was on or below scaffolding?
You may have a workers’ compensation claim and potentially a third-party claim against the contractor or company responsible for securing tools, materials or debris.
Can an independent contractor file a claim?
Possibly. Construction workers are sometimes incorrectly classified as independent contractors. The label placed on a worker does not always decide the worker’s legal status. The actual working relationship should be reviewed.
Does workers’ compensation cover all of my lost wages?
Not necessarily. Michigan generally calculates wage-loss benefits using 80% of the after-tax value of the worker’s average weekly wage, subject to statutory calculations, maximums and other adjustments.
Who pays my medical bills after a scaffolding accident?
Michigan workers’ compensation may cover reasonable and necessary medical care related to the work injury. Medical providers should generally bill the employer or workers’ compensation insurance carrier directly.
What if my employer refuses to file the claim?
An injured worker may submit Michigan Form WC-117, the Employee’s Report of Claim, to notify the agency, employer and insurance carrier.
Injured in a Michigan Scaffolding Accident? Call Steele Law
A scaffolding accident can leave you unable to work, facing surgery and uncertain about how your family will survive financially. Do not assume workers’ compensation is your only possible source of recovery.
Steele Law investigates Michigan workplace accidents to determine whether an injured worker can pursue workers’ compensation benefits, a third-party lawsuit or both.
Do not wait while contractors move equipment, repair the scaffold or change the accident scene. The sooner the investigation begins, the better the opportunity to preserve evidence and identify every responsible party.
Call Steele Law today at 248-704-2542 for a consultation about your Michigan scaffolding accident claim.
