Oakland Accident Attorneys - Bay Area Accident Law Attorneys Based in Oakland

	Third Party Actions The workers’ compensation law provides fixed benefits and makes them payable without regard to fault. The employee also has the right to sue any person other than her/his own direct employer or fellow employees if she/he can prove that “such third party” was at fault in causing the accident. For example, an employee of a subcontractor on a job site may, under proper circumstances, sue the general contractor, the owner of the premises, or a manufacturer or supplier of a defective product and collect civil damages over and above her/his workers’ compensation benefits. Another example is where a worker is hit by a vehicle driven by a person not employed by the workers’ employer. In such case, the worker can sue the negligent driver. In such a third party civil case, recovery is not limited to the amounts provided under the workers’ compensation law for temporary and permanent disability but may include past and future loss of earnings and earning capacity, past and future medical expenses, as well as payment for pain and suffering. Whereas in workers’ compensation, there is no right to a jury trial; there is a right to a jury trial against a third party who causes an injury. Every incident in which an employee is injured should be closely examined to determine whether or not it was the result of some negligence on the part of a third person - or party - other than the employee’s own direct employer or co-employee, or caused by dangerous premises, or a defective product. Boxer & Gerson, LLP has a staff of seasoned civil trial attorneys with a proven track record of trial verdicts, major settlements in construction accidents, premises defect lawsuits and cases involving dangerous and defective products. Ordinarily, the time in which a lawsuit must be filed in a third party civil damage action is two years from the date of the injury. If a public entity, such as a city, county, school district or state, is at fault, a preliminary claim must be filed against such public organization within six months from the happening of the accident. In any event, immediate investigation must be undertaken to determine the cause of the accident, to interview witnesses, to obtain their statements, and to take possession and control of the available physical evidence.