Washington Third-Party Workplace Injury Claim Attorney
A worker hurt on a job site in King County usually gets a workers’ compensation claim started within days, and then learns that those benefits were never designed to cover everything the injury took. Injury Law Group NW is a personal injury firm that represents injured people and grieving families throughout Washington, including Issaquah, Bellevue, Seattle, and the rest of King County, and a Washington third-party workplace injury claim attorney from our firm can examine whether someone other than your employer helped cause your injury.
The legal basis is RCW 51.24.030. When a person or company that is not in the same employ as the injured worker is or may become liable for an injury covered by industrial insurance, the worker, or the worker’s beneficiary, may elect to pursue damages from that outside party. Industrial insurance pays medical care and a portion of lost wages, but it does not pay for pain and suffering, and it does not compensate for the full measure of what a permanent injury does to a person’s life. A third-party claim can.
The outside party might be a general contractor who controlled the site, a subcontractor on a neighboring crew, a property owner, an equipment manufacturer, a truck driver who struck a worker on the road, or a company that maintained a lift, crane, or scaffold. Identifying which of them owed a duty, and which of them breached it, is the central work of these cases.
Why Choose Injury Law Group NW for a Third-Party Workplace Injury Claim
Injury Law Group NW represents people hurt by someone else’s negligence across King County, the Eastside, greater Seattle, and the broader Puget Sound region. Our attorneys spent decades defending insurance companies before representing injury victims, which matters in third-party workplace cases because these claims put you across the table from contractors, property owners, and the insurers standing behind them. We handle cases on a contingency fee basis, so you owe no attorney fee unless we recover money for you, and the first consultation is free and confidential. If your injuries make travel difficult, we will meet you at home or at the hospital.
Troy Hunter, our Founding Partner, spent 16 years in insurance defense litigation, mostly as a partner at Floyd, Pflueger & Ringer, where he defended insurers and their corporate clients against personal injury, wrongful death, fire loss, and construction defect claims. He also serves as a dispute mediator. David D. Mordekhov spent two decades at Gardner Trabolsi & Mordekhov trying wrongful death, catastrophic injury, and product liability cases before judges and juries. Both are rated AV Preeminent by Martindale-Hubbell. David has been selected to the Super Lawyers list and teaches trial and deposition skills as faculty at the National Institute for Trial Advocacy. Associate attorneys Warren Barreiro and Hannah Shergold complete the team, and Warren speaks Spanish while David is fluent in Russian.
That defense background shapes how we build a construction or workplace case. We know which records an adjuster pulls first, how a defendant’s insurer values a claim internally, and when it is preparing to settle versus preparing to fight. We prepare every claim as though it will go to trial, and our attorneys have argued at every level of the Washington court system, from district court to the Washington Supreme Court. Our results include a mid-six-figure settlement for a family of five whose minivan was forced into the I-5 center barrier by a semi-truck, a mid-six-figure settlement for an elderly woman struck by a transit bus in a downtown Seattle crosswalk, and more than $1 million for parents whose newborn died after a hospital failed to adequately test for Group B Strep, a case that also led the hospital to change its procedures. Past results do not guarantee a future outcome. Clients consistently describe our team as responsive, professional, and communicative, and our case managers return calls and texts promptly.
Who Can Be Sued When a Worker Is Hurt on the Job
- General Contractors and Site Controllers: On a multi-employer construction site, the company coordinating the work often controls fall protection, site access, and sequencing. When its decisions or failures injure a worker employed by a different company, that worker may have a claim against the general contractor.
- Subcontractors on the Same Project: A worker injured by another trade’s negligence, such as an overhead load dropped by a crane crew or an unguarded opening left by a framing crew, is not “in the same employ” as that subcontractor, which can open a third-party claim.
- Property Owners and Developers: Owners who retain control over a site, or who leave a hazard they knew about, can be answerable to workers and visitors. Conditions like unstable ground, faulty stairs, and exposed electrical hazards are common starting points.
- Equipment and Product Manufacturers: A defective ladder, scaffold component, forklift, nail gun, or safety harness can support a product liability claim against the manufacturer or seller. Washington limits product claims by “useful safe life,” and a product more than twelve years past delivery carries a presumption that the harm came after that period ended, so older equipment needs careful analysis.
- Negligent Drivers: Delivery drivers, flaggers, road crews, and tradespeople driving between sites are frequently hurt in crashes on I-90, I-405, I-5, and local King County roads. The at-fault driver is a third party, and workers’ compensation does not replace a claim against that driver.
- Maintenance and Service Contractors: Companies hired to inspect, repair, or maintain cranes, lifts, elevators, and machinery can be liable when poor work contributes to a collapse or malfunction.
- Government Entities: When a public agency owns the road, building, or project where the injury happened, a claim is possible, but it must begin with a formal tort claim before any lawsuit is filed.
What an Injured Worker Should Do After a Job Site Injury
Start with medical care and report the injury to your employer right away. Both steps protect your workers’ compensation claim, and the medical records created in the first days become the foundation of any third-party case. Be consistent and complete when describing symptoms to every provider, including ones that seem minor. Injuries like back damage and brain injuries can reveal themselves over days or weeks, and insurers read gaps in treatment as evidence that you were not really hurt.
Then preserve what only you can preserve. Photograph the area, the equipment, and your injuries. Write down the names of coworkers, subcontractor crews, and anyone else present, and note which companies were working on the site that day. Do not assume your employer is the only entity worth identifying; the most valuable witnesses are often people from other companies. Keep any damaged gear and protective equipment, and do not sign statements or releases for anyone other than your employer’s industrial insurance process without speaking to a lawyer first. An insurer for the property owner or general contractor may contact you quickly. You are generally not required to give a recorded statement to a party’s insurer, and adjusters use those statements to minimize injuries or shift blame to you.
Deadlines depend on who is responsible. Most Washington personal injury claims carry a three-year limitations period under RCW 4.16.080, and an action counts as commenced by filing or by service, as long as the other step follows within 90 days. If the harm was intentional, the period shrinks to two years. Product liability claims have their own discovery-based three-year period, subject to the useful safe life rules. If a city, county, school district, or other local government may be responsible, RCW 4.96.020 requires a claim to be presented to that entity’s designated agent first, and no lawsuit can be filed until sixty calendar days have passed. For claims against the state, the claim goes on the standard tort claim form to the Office of Risk Management, with the same sixty-day wait. The limitations period is tolled during those sixty days, but missing the claim step can end the case before it begins.
Cases in King County are filed in Superior Court, which sits in Seattle and in Kent at the Maleng Regional Justice Center; where a given case lands generally follows where the parties are located. Lower-value claims may be heard in King County District Court, whose civil jurisdiction is capped by statute and whose Redmond location handles the civil filing area covering Bellevue, Issaquah, Kirkland, Sammamish, and neighboring communities. Serious workplace injury cases typically belong in Superior Court. Some disputes involving diverse parties or federal questions can end up in the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington in Seattle.
How Workers’ Compensation and a Third-Party Claim Fit Together
The two systems run in parallel, and the interaction between them is where injured workers lose money if no one is watching. You can receive industrial insurance benefits and pursue a third-party claim at the same time. When you file a third-party action under RCW 51.24.030, you must notify the Department of Labor & Industries, or your employer’s self-insurer, that the action has been filed. The department or self-insurer may then file a notice of statutory interest and may intervene to protect its interest in the recovery. In plain terms, the agency that paid your medical bills and wage benefits has a right to be reimbursed from what you recover from the outside party, according to the statutory framework.
For that reason, how a recovery is documented and allocated matters. For purposes of this statute, “recovery” covers all damages except loss of consortium, so a spouse’s consortium claim sits outside the reimbursement calculation. Underinsured motorist damages are subject to this chapter only when the policy belongs to the worker’s employer, which means your personal UIM coverage is generally not reached by the industrial insurance reimbursement rules. A lawyer who understands both systems can structure and negotiate the claim so that the reimbursement obligation does not swallow the compensation you were seeking.
Two statutory limits are worth knowing about. An injured worker generally may not sue a design professional retained on a construction project, or that professional’s employees, unless the professional specifically assumed responsibility for safety practices. And where an employer deliberately intended to cause the injury, RCW 51.24.020 allows the worker to collect industrial insurance and also sue the employer for damages exceeding what the compensation system pays. That is a high bar, but it exists. Washington also follows pure comparative fault: if you are found partly responsible, your damages are reduced by your percentage of fault, and recovery is not barred. There is no 50 percent or 51 percent cutoff, which matters because defendants in site cases routinely try to blame the worker for not following procedures.
When a workplace incident kills a worker, the family’s options include both industrial insurance survivor benefits and a wrongful death action against a negligent third party. The personal representative brings the claim for the benefit of the spouse, registered domestic partner, and children, and the survival statute allows recovery of the estate’s economic losses and, where qualifying beneficiaries exist, the decedent’s own pain and suffering. The three-year limit runs from the date of death.
Answers to Common Questions About Third-Party Workplace Injury Claims
What is a third-party workplace injury claim in Washington?
It is a lawsuit or insurance claim against someone other than your employer, or a coworker in the same employ, whose negligence helped cause your job injury. It exists alongside workers’ compensation and allows recovery of damages that the industrial insurance system does not pay, including pain and suffering.
Can I sue my employer for a work injury?
Generally, no. Industrial insurance is the exclusive remedy against your own employer. The main exception is an employer’s deliberate intention to cause the injury, in which case you may collect industrial insurance and also sue for damages beyond those benefits.
Will filing a third-party claim hurt my workers’ compensation benefits?
No, you may pursue both. You must notify the Department of Labor & Industries or the self-insurer when the third-party action is filed, and the agency may assert an interest in the recovery to be reimbursed for benefits it paid. Handling that reimbursement correctly is part of the lawyer’s job.
How long do I have to file a third-party claim?
For most personal injury claims, three years under RCW 4.16.080. An action is commenced by filing or service, provided the other occurs within 90 days. Claims based on intentional acts are limited to two years, and claims against government entities require a pre-suit claim and a sixty-day wait.
What if I was partly at fault for my own injury?
Washington’s pure comparative fault rule reduces your damages by your share of fault without barring recovery. Even a worker found mostly at fault could recover the remaining percentage, though how fault is assigned deserves close attention because insurers often overstate it.
What if the equipment that hurt me was old?
A product seller can defend by showing the harm happened after the product’s useful safe life ended, and harm more than twelve years after delivery creates a presumption to that effect. The presumption can be rebutted, and exceptions apply if the seller warranted a longer life, concealed facts, or the exposure began within the useful safe life.
Can I bring a claim against an architect or engineer on the project?
Usually not. Washington bars injured workers from seeking damages against a design professional retained on the project, or the professional’s employees, unless the professional specifically assumed responsibility for safety practices.
Does the general contractor’s insurance cover subcontractor employees?
It depends on the policy and the contract. Many construction contracts require subcontractors to carry coverage and to indemnify the general contractor, and these arrangements can dictate which insurer ultimately pays. Finding and reading those contracts early is part of building a site injury case.
What if I was hit by a driver while working?
The negligent driver is a third party, and you can pursue that driver’s liability coverage in addition to industrial insurance. If the driver is uninsured or underinsured, your own underinsured motorist coverage may apply; Washington requires insurers to offer it on auto policies unless the named insured rejects it in writing, and the rules for motorcycles are somewhat different.
Is it worth hiring a lawyer if my employer’s insurance is already paying my bills?
Often yes, because workers’ compensation does not compensate for pain and suffering or fully replace long-term lost earning capacity. A lawyer can tell you whether a third party is involved and what a fair recovery would look like. We offer free, confidential consultations and take cases on a contingency fee basis.
Do you handle cases for Russian or Spanish speaking workers?
Yes. David Mordekhov is fluent in Russian and Warren Barreiro speaks Spanish, and we regularly work with clients who prefer to discuss their case in those languages.
Serving Injured Workers Across Issaquah, King County, and the Eastside
Starting in Issaquah and the surrounding Eastside, we represent injured workers in Sammamish, Bellevue, Redmond, and Kirkland, where office construction, residential development, and infrastructure work keep job sites active throughout the year. We also serve Seattle, where high-rise and waterfront projects generate some of the region’s most serious fall and crane cases, along with Kent and Renton in south King County, home to warehouses, manufacturing facilities, and busy freight corridors. From there our work extends across King County and the greater Puget Sound region. Whether your injury happened on a downtown tower, a highway project along I-90 or I-405, or a warehouse floor, we can meet you where you are, including at home or in the hospital if travel is difficult.
Talk With a Washington Third-Party Workplace Injury Attorney Today
If someone other than your employer helped cause your job injury, you may be entitled to compensation that workers’ compensation will never provide. A Washington third-party workplace injury attorney at Injury Law Group NW will listen to what happened, identify the companies and individuals who may be responsible, and explain how the claim would work alongside your industrial insurance benefits. Call or text us to schedule a free, confidential consultation. You pay nothing unless we recover money for you. We give hope. We get results.
