Rockville Centre Personal Injury Blog

Construction worker killed when window crushed him

On behalf of The Law Offices of Mark E. Weinberger P.C. posted in construction accidents on Tuesday, April 10, 2018.

In March, a 34-year-old construction worker was killed at a work site in Jamaica, Queens. The site is one that is known to have had safety violations in the past, including 37 open violations that were issued by the Environmental Control Board.

The brother-in-law of the man who died noted that he didn't feel like he was safe at that site. A stop-work order on the four-building complex was issued in December 2017. Despite this fact, work resumed. Now, one of the workers who trusted his employer to keep him safe can't support his family any longer.

Safety code failures that could lead to big lawsuits

On behalf of The Law Offices of Mark E. Weinberger P.C. posted in premises liability on Friday, April 6, 2018.

If you're a landlord, you already know that you run some risks with premises liability laws. One slip-up on your part, and you could face a serious lawsuit from an injured tenant or guest.

There are certain safety codes that you particularly want to make sure that you keep on track. These issues are some of the most common sources of premises liability for landlords.

Know your options for addressing a work-related injury

On behalf of The Law Offices of Mark E. Weinberger P.C. posted in Workers' Compensation on Friday, March 30, 2018.

You likely count on your ability to go to work each day. You need to be able to earn a living. So, what happens if you are injured and can't work? You might feel like this is a hopeless situation, but it isn't. You do have the option of seeking workers' compensation. This can cover the medical bills and might provide you with an income when you can't earn your paycheck.

There are many points that impact a workers' compensation claim. One of these is that you might wonder if you have any courses of action if the workers' compensation benefits aren't enough to cover your expenses. The answer to this is that you might have some recourse, but it is likely very limited.

Types of injuries suffered in New York car accidents

On behalf of The Law Offices of Mark E. Weinberger P.C. posted in car accidents on Thursday, March 22, 2018.

Getting behind the wheel of your vehicle each day is a risk that not many people realize they are taking. Driving is a dangerous task. Even if you are the safest of drivers, you can never trust that other drivers around you will be just as safe. There's so many things that can go wrong when driving, including getting into an accident in Rockville Centre because of other drivers. Below are some injuries you might suffer in a car accident.

Broken bones are very common injuries suffered in car accidents. Arms, legs and even neck bones can be broken in these accidents. It's not uncommon for accident victims to brace themselves if they know that an accident is imminent. When bracing yourself for impact, it can make it easier for your bones to break upon impact.

3 tips to reduce your risk of an accident when biking in the road

On behalf of The Law Offices of Mark E. Weinberger P.C. posted in blog on Monday, March 19, 2018.

Bicyclists are permitted to drive in the road alongside cars and other vehicles. However, if a motor vehicle collides with a bicycle, the results can be disastrous for the rider. Therefore, it’s important for any cyclist to ride defensively and to take extra precautions to minimize their risk of accident and injury.

Today we examine a few ways for bicyclists to avoid a collision on the road:

Falling objects can lead to fatal accidents

On behalf of The Law Offices of Mark E. Weinberger P.C. posted in construction accidents on Thursday, March 15, 2018.

Falls are one of the biggest hazards that construction workers face, but it isn't always the worker falling that it is the problem. Objects that workers use when they are at heights above ground level can easily cause a fatality if the object is heavy enough and is dropped from a considerable distance.

The laws of physics come into the picture here. When an object as small as a tape measure or wrench is dropped from a high location, the velocity of the item will increase as it falls. If the object hits someone, it can kill. A man at a construction site was struck with a tape measure and it killed him. That item was dropped from 50 stories above the man.

When can I receive lost wages benefits?

On behalf of The Law Offices of Mark E. Weinberger P.C. posted in Workers' Compensation on Friday, March 9, 2018.

Injured New York workers who suffered their injuries while carrying out their job duties may be able to receive lost wages benefits through the state workers' compensation program if their injuries prevent them from going to work. Lost wages will not compensate you for your full amount of income; however, they are also exempt from federal income tax. As such, you may end up receiving an amount of lost wages benefits that comes close to the amount you were earning.

Here are the three circumstances when you can qualify to receive lost wages benefits:

You can't work for more than seven days: Imagine you fell off a ladder and broke your leg. Due to the severity of your injuries, you've already been home and unable to work for two weeks, and the doctor expects you will have to wait another two months before you can work again. In this case, you can receive wage replacement benefits.
You've suffered a permanent disability: A permanent disability following a workplace accident or illness could leave you permanently unable to perform your job duties. Lost wages benefits could help you make financial ends meet.
You've accepted a lower paying job because of injuries: You can still work and receive wage replacement benefits if your job-related injury caused you not be able to earn the same amount of money anymore.

Tennis pro Eugenie Bouchard settles a slip-and-fall lawsuit

On behalf of The Law Offices of Mark E. Weinberger P.C. posted in premises liability on Friday, March 2, 2018.

The once highly ranked Canadian tennis player Eugenie Bouchard settled an injury lawsuit with the United States Tennis Association (USTA) on Friday, Feb. 23.

She had filed a lawsuit against the USTA in federal court in Brooklyn, New York, following a 2015 incident at the U.S. Open. She apparently slipped and fell backwards on some tiles that had not been thoroughly cleaned at their sports complex. She reportedly suffered a concussion as a result of her fall.

Don't ever do this when working with a scaffold

On behalf of The Law Offices of Mark E. Weinberger P.C. posted in construction accidents on Friday, February 23, 2018.

Construction workers in New York who regularly use a scaffold as a part of their jobs rarely consider how dangerous scaffolds are until after they suffer an injury. As such, it's vital to remind workers on a regular basis that these devices, although incredibly convenient and useful, require attention and care when using them if workers want to stay safe.

With safety in mind, here is a list of things that workers should never do when using a scaffold.

Don't leave anything laying on the scaffold after you're done at work. Anything left on a scaffold is at risk of falling and hurting the workers below. These items could also trip someone who is using the scaffold after you.
Don't ignore the load limitations of the scaffold, and never put too much weight on it. Sources of weight include tools, machinery, supplies and people. An overweighted scaffold is at risk of tipping over.
Never use a ladder or a box on a scaffold to increase your reach. Your scaffold should be high enough to reach all the things you need to gain access to. If it's not, then you may need to adjust the scaffold itself to safely reach everything.
Don't use a scaffold when you notice signs of damage. Always inspect the scaffold for frayed ropes, rusty components and broken pieces that could endanger the people working on it.
Don't use a scaffold if it has snow, ice or mud on it. These create serious slipping hazards that can result in a fatal fall.

Pushing for workers' rights despite intimidation

On behalf of The Law Offices of Mark E. Weinberger P.C. posted in Workers' Compensation on Saturday, February 17, 2018.

You're probably under the impression that your local sanitation worker has decent wages, overtime pay and good health coverage -- after all, all sanitation workers are in a union, right?

Not at all. Many sanitation workers still labor for meager daily wages in brutal, often unsafe conditions for non-union, private companies around the nation. They work with trucks that are capable of crushing them to death fairly easily -- and sometimes do. They also have to handle refuse that is often dangerous and back-breaking to lift.