Can a Subcontractor Sue for Personal Injury?

Are subcontractors allowed to seek compensation for injuries sustained on the job?

A subcontractor is an individual (or a business) that signs a contract to "perform part or all of the obligations of another's contract." This indicates that a subcontractor is not an employee per say, rather, a general contractor hires the subcontractor to perform specific tasks related to the overall project.
The financial advantages of hiring a subcontractor are:
• Flexibility
• Lower cost on salary
• Lower cost on taxes, insurance
• Specialist expertise
• Less reliance on in-house specialists
• Specify duration and type of work
• Mitigation of project risk
Therefore, it seems like a fair question: is the employer or the contractor at fault if a subcontractor injures himself during working hours? After all, the subcontractor is not an employee, and therefore has no such recourse as workers' compensation.
The truth is that while a subcontractor who is injured on the job will have a harder time recovering compensation than an employee, they still have the option of filing a negligence claim against the party or parties who's negligence caused their injury (if one exists). For instance, if the property owner fails to warn you of premises defects or dangers, you may have a valid premises liability claim. If you were injured as a result of a defective or faulty safety product, machine or tool, you may have a product liability claim against the manufacturer.
In any case, if you have been injured as the result of someone's negligence (whether you work as an employee or help out as a subcontractor), then you may have a valid claim. To find out the legal options available to you, call us at (214) 651-6100 today.