What Injured Workers Should Know About Third-Party Construction Accident Claims in Denver
Under Colorado law, you should report a work injury to your employer in writing within ten days. While the law makes allowances if you are physically unable to report it or if your manager already knows, missing this window can cost you up to one day’s compensation for each day the injury goes unreported. Acting quickly protects your right to benefits and begins the process of identifying exactly who is responsible for the site’s safety.
Workers’ compensation pays for treatment and part of your lost wages, rarely the whole picture after a serious construction injury. If a company outside your own employment caused the harm, you may also have a third-party construction accident claim.
Can You Sue Anyone Other Than Your Employer After a Denver Construction Accident?
Whether you can sue turns on the relationship between the negligent party and your employer. Colorado closes the door on a lawsuit against your own employer and leaves it open against other companies on the site.
That closed door is the exclusive remedy rule. Under C.R.S. § 8-41-102, an employer that has complied with the Workers’ Compensation Act, insurance included, is not subject to any other liability for a worker’s injury or death on the job. In plain terms, you simply cannot sue your own employer for a workplace accident.
A Denver construction site usually holds several independent companies working feet apart. That is where a third-party claim comes from. C.R.S. § 8-41-203 lets a worker entitled to compensation who is injured or killed by the negligence or wrong of someone “not in the same employ” take workers’ compensation benefits and also pursue a claim against that other person for damages beyond what compensation provides.
That phrase is the test. It points outside your own employer and its workforce, toward a separate trade, an equipment manufacturer, or a property owner. Not every other company on the site can be sued.
Can You Sue the General Contractor on Your Site?
Often you cannot, because Colorado may treat that general contractor as your statutory employer. C.R.S. § 8-41-401 explains why. When a business runs its work by leasing or contracting out part or all of it, Colorado treats that business as an employer of the lessees, contractors, subcontractors and their workers, and makes it liable to pay their workers’ compensation. Colorado calls such a business a statutory employer.
Because of this rule, if a general contractor contracted the work out to your employer, you generally cannot sue that general contractor. The law shields them from third-party lawsuits just like your direct employer. That bar covers the third-party claim under section 8-41-203. An equipment manufacturer or an unrelated trade may fall outside that protection.
What Does a Third-Party Claim Add to Workers’ Compensation?
A third-party claim reaches money the workers’ compensation system does not pay, and the two are worth taking in order. The first covers a defined set of economic losses: medical treatment and part of the wages you lose. The second adds noneconomic damages, the law’s name for pain and suffering, inconvenience, emotional stress, and impairment of your quality of life.
Because the two run at the same time, the workers’ compensation insurer expects repayment out of anything you recover from the third party. That process is called subrogation, and the same statute limits it in your favor.
When you recover money in a third-party lawsuit, the workers’ compensation insurer expects to be paid back for the benefits it provided. However, the law limits what the insurer can take. While the insurer can recover money from your economic damages, it cannot touch the money you are awarded for noneconomic damages like pain and suffering, emotional stress, or a reduced quality of life.
Why Do the Project Contracts Matter So Early?
Because the statutory employer rule shields general contractors and higher-tier subcontractors, a third-party construction claim relies heavily on document review. The subcontracts, the certificates of insurance, the site safety plans, and the daily site logs show exactly which company contracted the work out and which stands outside that protection.
Kurt Zaner, founding partner at Zaner Law Personal Injury Lawyers, built his practice on catastrophic injury cases where identifying the liable party shapes everything that follows, as detailed in his attorney biography. Among our published case results is one of our $16 million+ recoveries for a client who suffered life-changing injuries. No single result predicts another, because every construction injury claim rests on its own specific contracts and facts.
FAQs About Third-Party Construction Accident Claims
Can I bring a third-party claim if a co-worker caused the accident?
Generally, no. You cannot sue someone who shares your employer. Injuries caused by a co-worker are handled inside the workers’ compensation system rather than through a lawsuit against another company. Under C.R.S. § 8-41-203, a third-party claim is available only against someone not in the same employ.
Is a defective piece of equipment a third-party claim?
It can be, depending on the legal relationships at the site. An equipment manufacturer is a separate company and is not your employer. Therefore, the law leaves the door open to pursue a claim against them, though reviewing the project contracts is necessary to determine their liability.
How soon should I look at a third-party claim?
You should act early, ideally while your workers’ compensation claim is still actively open. Determining who is a statutory employer requires requesting and reading complex construction contracts. In Colorado a personal injury claim generally has to be filed within two years of the day the claim accrues. For most crash and site injuries that is the day of the incident.
Talk With Us About Your Construction Injury Claim
If you were injured on a Denver construction site, ask whether a company other than your employer is responsible. The subcontracts and insurance certificates that answer that question are easier to obtain early. Call Zaner Law Personal Injury Lawyers at (720) 613-9706, or use our contact page, to arrange a consultation.
