You are days out from the accident, waiting on a call back from someone at the company. Despite the urgency, nobody has told you who is paying for any of this. Meanwhile the crew that caused it may not work for your employer at all.
Workers’ compensation covers your medical care and part of your wages, and it stops there. A negligent subcontractor or equipment maker can be sued for the rest, including pain and suffering.
For this reason, our construction accident attorneys in Minneapolis start with who else was on site that day.
The Injuries We See Most on Minnesota Job Sites
Fall, struck-by, crush, and electrical injuries usually involve equipment or crews from outside your own company. Repetitive strain and exposure damage almost never do.
- Falls from height: Roofs, scaffolding, ladders, and floor openings left unguarded after another crew moved on
- Struck-by injuries: Dropped tools, swinging loads, and vehicles backing through tight lanes where nobody has a clear view
- Caught-in and crush injuries: Trench collapses, unguarded machinery, and equipment that starts up while someone is still inside it
- Electrocution: Live lines, damaged cords, and panels energized by a crew that never told anyone
- Back and joint damage that builds over time: Years of lifting, kneeling, and overhead work that wear down discs, shoulders, and knees
- Hearing and lung damage: Long exposure to noise, silica dust, and fumes that shows up decades later
Two Claims Can Run at the Same Time
Workers’ compensation pays no matter who caused your injury. It also never pays for pain, suffering, or the parts of your life the injury took away because Minnesota built the system to trade fault for speed.
A third-party case reaches the people your comp claim cannot touch. Minnesota Statutes section 176.061 lets you pursue a negligent general contractor, subcontractor, equipment manufacturer, or property owner while your benefits keep coming.
Both tracks can run together. Falls from scaffolding, trench collapses, and equipment failures make up most of the construction site accidents we take to court.
The construction accident attorneys in Minnesota at our firm handle both claims as one case rather than two.
Why You Usually Cannot Sue Your Own Employer
Your employer’s liability under the workers’ compensation law replaces every other claim you might bring against the company.
Minnesota Statutes section 176.031 calls that liability exclusive, and it extends to your spouse, your children, and anyone else who might sue over your injury.
The Exclusive Remedy Rule
Minnesota made a trade when it wrote this law. You get benefits without proving anyone did anything wrong, and in exchange you give up the right to sue the company you work for.
Speed is the upside. Your medical care and wage checks do not wait on a fight about fault.
The Exceptions Worth Knowing
Two doors stay open. An employer who fails to carry workers’ compensation insurance loses the protection, which leaves you free to claim benefits or take the company to court for damages.
The second involves the people you work beside. A coworker can be sued only when the injury came from gross negligence or was done on purpose, so ordinary carelessness by a crewmate stays inside the comp system.
Who Keeps the Money When You Win Both
Minnesota splits a third-party recovery under a formula written into the statute, and what reaches you at the end depends entirely on the order.
- Costs come off first: Attorney fees and the reasonable cost of collection are deducted before anything is divided.
- One-third is yours no matter what: A third of what remains goes to you in every case, with no repayment claim attached to it.
- The insurer gets paid back next: Out of the balance, the employer or insurer recovers the benefits already paid on your claim.
- The rest goes to you as a credit: Anything left is yours, and it offsets benefits the insurer would otherwise owe you later.
- Interest and penalties stay put: The insurer gets no reimbursement or credit for either one.
Running the numbers early tells you whether a lawsuit is worth filing. A construction injury attorney in Saint Paul should walk you through that math before you commit to anything.
Deadlines are Not the Same
The clock on your lawsuit runs separately from the clock on your benefits, and missing one does not affect the other.
- Negligence claims: Six years from the date of injury under Minnesota Statutes section 541.05
- Defective equipment claims: Four years when the case rests on strict liability, which surprises workers who assumed six
- Public projects: A written notice of claim within 180 days when a city, county, or state agency is involved
- Your work comp claim: A separate deadline tied to when your employer filed its first report of injury with the state
Reporting the injury in writing protects both claims at once, and the same photographs and witness names you collect after being injured at work become evidence in the lawsuit.
Our construction accident attorneys in Minneapolis track all four clocks at once, because a case can be perfectly good and still die on a date.
Partial Fault Does Not End Your Case
Being partly responsible does not close the courthouse door in Minnesota. Your damages get reduced by your share of the fault, and you lose the right to recover only when your share is greater than that of the party you are suing.
Your benefits are untouched by any of this. Workers’ compensation pays regardless of fault, so a mistake on your part never costs you medical care or wage loss.
One rule protects your case from an unforced error. Never settle with a third party without giving your employer notice first, because a settlement made behind the insurer’s back is void against its right to be repaid.
A construction injury attorney in Saint Paul handles that notice as a matter of routine.
Contact Us Before the Site Changes
If you’ve sustained any injuries on site, don’t delay seeking legal help and filing a claim.
The construction accident attorneys in Minnesota at our firm work on contingency, so a case review costs you nothing. We represent injured workers across Minneapolis, Saint Paul, and greater Minnesota, and our Minnesota work injury lawyers will tell you whether a second claim exists before the deadline decides for you.
Contact our law firm today to schedule a consultation and start your comeback journey.