Orange County Construction Accident Lawyer
Hurt on a construction site in Orange County? Workers’ comp may not be your only option. When a contractor, property owner, or equipment maker other than your employer caused the injury, a third-party claim can recover what workers’ comp doesn’t, including pain and suffering and full lost earnings. We identify every company on the site.
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Faud Haghighi has resolved cases resulting in tens of millions of dollars in settlements and verdicts. Recent recoveries are shown below.
Last updated: October 2026 · Reviewed by Faud Haghighi, Esq., Founder & Lead Trial Attorney
How Can an Orange County Construction Accident Lawyer Help?
An Orange County construction accident lawyer looks beyond workers’ compensation for a third party, such as another contractor, a property owner, or an equipment manufacturer, whose negligence caused the injury, and pursues a separate injury claim that can include pain and suffering and full lost earnings.
Construction sites involve heights, heavy equipment, and several companies working side by side, and serious injuries are common. Workers’ compensation provides important benefits, but it generally does not pay for pain and suffering and limits wage replacement. When someone other than your employer contributed to the injury, a third-party claim can make up the difference. The Law Offices of Faud Haghighi handles third-party injury claims for construction workers and others hurt on job sites throughout Orange County and Southern California from offices in Aliso Viejo and Tustin. Faud Haghighi’s practice centers on multi-party and complex-causation cases, and he handles each case personally.
| Construction injury claims at a glance | What it means for you |
|---|---|
| Workers’ comp | Generally your only remedy against your own employer, but it doesn’t pay pain and suffering. |
| Third-party claim | Another contractor, property owner, or equipment maker who caused the injury can be sued separately. |
| Both at once | The comp claim and the third-party claim can proceed together; comp is generally reimbursed from the recovery. |
| Report in 30 days | Written notice to your employer within 30 days generally preserves the comp claim. |
| Fees | Free, confidential consultation. No attorney fee unless we recover for you. |
Can You Sue After a Workplace Injury, or Only File Workers’ Comp?
Against your own employer, workers’ compensation is generally your only remedy (Lab. Code §3602). But filing for workers’ comp does not affect your right to sue anyone other than your employer who caused the injury (Lab. Code §3852).
| Workers’ compensation claim | Third-party injury claim | |
|---|---|---|
| Against whom | Your employer (through its insurer) | Someone other than your employer whose negligence or defective product caused the injury |
| Must you prove fault? | No; it is generally a no-fault system | Yes |
| Pain and suffering | Not available | Available |
| Lost earnings | Partial wage replacement under set formulas | Full past and future lost earnings |
| How they interact | Both can proceed at once; the workers’ comp payer is generally reimbursed from the third-party recovery (Lab. Code §3856) | |
We focus on the third-party injury claim and coordinate with your workers’ compensation case so the two fit together.
Who Can Be Responsible for a Construction Accident?
Depending on the facts, a general contractor, another subcontractor, a property owner or developer, an equipment manufacturer or rental company, or a driver on or near the site.
- Another contractor or subcontractor whose crew created a hazard, such as an unguarded opening, a dropped load, or unsafe scaffolding.
- A general contractor or property owner, in limited situations described below.
- Equipment makers and rental companies, when a defective or poorly maintained ladder, lift, scaffold, saw, or machine causes the injury, which can support a defective product claim.
- Drivers of delivery trucks or vehicles that strike workers in or near a work zone.
When Is the Party That Hired the Contractor Responsible?
California generally does not allow a contractor’s injured employee to sue the party that hired the contractor (Privette v. Superior Court (1993) 5 Cal.4th 689). There are important exceptions. A hirer can be liable if it retained control over the work and its exercise of that control affirmatively contributed to the injury (Hooker v. Department of Transportation (2002) 27 Cal.4th 198), or if it knew of a concealed hazard the contractor couldn’t reasonably discover and failed to disclose it (Kinsman v. Unocal Corp. (2005) 37 Cal.4th 659). Whether an exception applies depends heavily on the facts, which is why early investigation matters.
What Causes Most Construction Site Injuries?
Falls from heights, being struck by objects or vehicles, getting caught in or between equipment, and electrocution cause many of the most serious construction injuries. Common examples include falls from ladders, roofs, and scaffolds; trench collapses; falling tools and materials; forklift and crane accidents; and contact with live wires. Cal/OSHA safety rules on fall protection, scaffolding, trenching, and equipment can be important evidence of what a responsible company should have done. Injuries are often severe, from spinal cord injuries in falls to brain injuries from falling objects and electrical burns.
What Should You Do After a Construction Accident?
Get medical care, report the injury to your employer in writing, and preserve information about who was working on the site and what equipment was involved.
- Get medical treatment and tell the doctor exactly how the injury happened.
- Report the injury to your employer in writing. Written notice within 30 days is generally required to preserve a workers’ compensation claim (Lab. Code §5400).
- Write down the names of every company on the site, including the general contractor and the subcontractor whose work or equipment was involved.
- Photograph the scene and equipment if you can do so safely, and note the make and model of any tool or machine.
- Get co-workers’ and witnesses’ contact information.
- Talk to a lawyer before giving statements to another company’s insurer.
Why Are Third-Party Claims Common on Orange County Job Sites?
Orange County’s steady residential, commercial, and infrastructure construction means many job sites with multiple contractors working at once, and that is exactly when third-party claims arise. On a typical site, the general contractor, several subcontractors, equipment suppliers, and delivery drivers all share the same space, and an injury caused by one company’s crew to another company’s worker can support a third-party claim. Cases are filed in the Orange County Superior Court, generally at the Central Justice Center in Santa Ana; read more about what to expect at the Orange County Superior Court.
What Can You Recover in a Third-Party Construction Claim?
The full range of personal injury damages: past and future medical care, full lost earnings and earning capacity, and pain, suffering, and loss of enjoyment of life, which workers’ compensation does not provide. If you share some of the fault, California’s comparative negligence rule reduces the award rather than barring it; a worker with $220,000 in losses who is found 15% at fault still recovers $187,000. Part of any recovery generally goes to reimburse the workers’ compensation benefits already paid. There is no reliable “average construction accident settlement”; value depends on the injury, lost earning capacity, which companies can be held responsible, and their insurance. Read more about what affects the value of a personal injury case.
What Are the Deadlines After a Construction Injury?
Notify your employer in writing within 30 days for workers’ compensation, and generally file a third-party injury lawsuit within two years.
| Step | Deadline | Law |
|---|---|---|
| Written notice of injury to your employer (workers’ comp) | Within 30 days | Lab. Code §5400 |
| Third-party injury lawsuit | 2 years from the injury | CCP §335.1 |
| Claim against a public agency (for example, a public works project) | Written claim within 6 months | Gov. Code §911.2 |
| Fatal injury: family’s wrongful death claim | 2 years from the death | Wrongful death claims |
This page explains California law in general terms as of October 2026. Laws change and exceptions apply, so it is not legal advice about your situation.
How Does Faud Haghighi Identify Every Company on the Site?
Construction cases involve several companies, overlapping insurance policies, and legal rules that decide who can be sued. Faud Haghighi’s practice centers on multi-party and complex-causation cases, and he has practiced law in California since 2012. He handles each case personally, requests the site contracts, safety records, and incident reports that show who controlled the work, investigates every company on the site, and works with safety and engineering experts to show how the injury happened.
We represent injured workers in third-party claims throughout Orange County and Southern California, including Irvine, Anaheim, Tustin, Lake Forest, Costa Mesa, and Santa Ana, as part of our Orange County personal injury practice. If you were hurt by a hazard on someone else’s property rather than a job site, see premises liability claims; for life-changing injuries, see catastrophic injury claims.
Hurt on a construction site? Call (949) 313-7656 or request a free consultation about a third-party claim. There is no attorney fee unless we recover for you.
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Faud Haghighi, Esq.
Founder & Lead Trial Attorney
An Orange County trial attorney representing people injured by someone else's negligence — in car and truck crashes, slip-and-falls, premises accidents, and other serious-injury cases. Faud builds each case with the right medical and liability experts, preserves the evidence early, and prepares every file for trial — and you work directly with him, start to finish.
CA State Bar since 2012 · Aliso Viejo & Tustin
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Orange County Construction Accident FAQs
Generally no. Workers’ compensation is usually the only remedy against your own employer (Labor Code §3602). But you can sue other parties, such as another contractor, a property owner in some cases, or an equipment maker, whose negligence caused the injury.
Yes. Filing for workers’ compensation does not affect your right to sue a third party other than your employer (Labor Code §3852). The two can proceed at the same time, and the workers’ comp payer is generally reimbursed from the third-party recovery.
It is an injury claim against someone other than your employer, such as a subcontractor, general contractor, property owner, equipment manufacturer, or driver, whose negligence or defective product caused your injury. Unlike workers’ comp, it can include pain and suffering.
Sometimes. California generally protects the party that hired your employer, but it can be liable if its control over the work affirmatively contributed to your injury or if it failed to disclose a concealed hazard. These exceptions depend heavily on the facts.
The manufacturer, distributor, or rental company may be responsible under product liability law. Preserve information about the equipment, including its make, model, and owner, and ask that it not be repaired or discarded.
Give your employer written notice within 30 days to protect a workers’ compensation claim (Labor Code §5400). A third-party injury lawsuit generally must be filed within two years of the injury (CCP §335.1).
Past and future medical care, full lost earnings and earning capacity, and pain, suffering, and loss of enjoyment of life. Workers’ compensation doesn’t pay pain and suffering, which is one reason third-party claims matter.
They can. Cal/OSHA safety rules on fall protection, scaffolding, trenching, and equipment can be evidence of what a responsible company should have done, and an inspection or citation after an accident can help show what went wrong.
In a third-party claim, California’s comparative negligence rule reduces your compensation by your share of fault rather than barring it. Workers’ compensation benefits generally don’t depend on fault.
Our focus is the third-party injury claim against parties other than your employer. We coordinate with your workers’ compensation case so the two fit together and the reimbursement owed from the recovery is handled correctly.
Nothing up front. We work on a contingency fee, so there is no attorney fee unless we recover compensation for you, and the consultation is free.
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How We Handle Your Orange County Construction Accident Case
From your first call to the final resolution, here’s what working with the Law Offices of Faud Haghighi looks like — a clear, six-step path built to take the pressure off you and pursue the full recovery you’re owed. There’s no attorney fee unless we recover for you.
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