Construction Fall Accident Lawyer in Sacramento

If you fell from a height at a Sacramento construction site, such as a roof, scaffold, or ladder, call J&Y Law at (877) 735-7035. A fall on the job usually opens two paths to compensation. One is a workers’ compensation claim against your employer. The other is a lawsuit against any other company whose negligence or defective equipment helped cause the fall. Our Sacramento construction accident lawyers review both for free. You pay nothing unless we recover compensation for you. 

J&Y Law has recovered tens of millions of dollars for injured Californians. Every case is different, and past results do not guarantee a similar outcome. 

Timeline to Preserve Evidence in Sacramento Construction Fall Cases 

Your employer must report a death or serious injury to Cal/OSHA, the state’s workplace safety agency, within 8 hours (8 CCR § 342). A serious injury includes a hospital stay for treatment, and the report creates an early, time-stamped record of your fall. 

Tell every nurse and doctor how you fell and from what height. Those notes become the first medical account of the accident. UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento is a Level I trauma center, verified by the American College of Surgeons, and it serves a 33-county region. 

Before the crew repairs or removes anything, photograph or write down: 

• Guardrails, floor covers, and edge protection, or the absence of them 

• The ladder, scaffold, or harness you used, including tags and labels 

• Anchor points, lanyards, and safety nets 

• Names of coworkers, foremen, and other trades on site that day 

Once a crew repairs a guardrail or removes a ladder, the proof of what was missing is gone. J&Y Law sends preservation letters that demand the responsible companies keep equipment, safety logs, and video. 

Measure the Fall Against Cal/OSHA Rules 

Under Cal/OSHA’s construction safety orders, workers exposed to a fall of more than 7½ feet from an unprotected edge or opening need guardrails, safety nets, or personal fall protection (8 CCR § 1670). A personal fall arrest system is a harness tied to a secure anchor that stops a fall in progress. A broken rule does not decide your case alone, but it is strong evidence that someone failed to protect you. 

In 2024, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics counted 389 deaths from falls, slips, and trips among private-sector construction workers, and 95.9 percent of those were falls to a lower level. California recorded 419 workplace deaths that year. Construction laborers (39) and roofers (13) were both among the ten occupations with the most. Our construction accident statistics guide has more national data. 

Call (877) 735-7035 and a lawyer will compare your fall to these rules. 

Claim Workers’ Compensation and Sue Third Parties 

Workers’ compensation is the state insurance system that pays for medical care and part of your lost wages after a job injury, whoever caused it. Temporary disability pays two-thirds of your average weekly earnings. The state sets a weekly maximum each January. For 2026 injuries, the maximum is $1,764.11. Workers’ compensation does not pay for pain and suffering. 

That system also shields your employer from most lawsuits. California law preserves your right to sue everyone else who caused the fall (Labor Code § 3852). This is called a third-party claim. It can recover the losses workers’ compensation leaves out, including pain and suffering and the full value of lost earnings. Your employer’s insurer can claim repayment from a lawsuit recovery for benefits it already paid, and we handle both claims together. 

Identify Every Party Who Shares the Blame 

The company that employs you is rarely the only company on a construction site. We look for: 

• Other subcontractors whose work created the hazard, such as a crew that removed a guardrail or left a floor opening uncovered 

• Makers and sellers of ladders, scaffolds, or harnesses that failed 

• The property owner or the company that hired your employer, in limited situations 

California’s Privette rule limits that last group. Courts presume that a company that hires a contractor hands that contractor responsibility for its workers’ safety. In Gonzalez v. Mathis (2021), a window and skylight cleaner fell from a roof. The California Supreme Court held that a landowner generally has no duty to fix a hazard the contractor already knew about. The rule gives way in two situations. In the first, the hiring company kept control of the work and used that control in a way that contributed to the fall. In the second, the hiring company knew of a hidden danger and failed to warn. We review contracts, site safety plans, and daily logs to find those facts. 

Defendants can also ask the jury to assign part of the fault to your employer, even though you cannot sue the employer. That reduces the pain-and-suffering damages they owe, so we build clear evidence of who controlled the site and the equipment. 

If you were hurt by a fall on the ground near a site and did not work there, see our page on third-party construction accidents. For slips on wet or uneven walking surfaces away from a site, see our Sacramento slip and fall lawyers. 

Hold Uninsured or Reckless Employers Accountable 

Every California employer must carry workers’ compensation insurance. If yours did not, you can sue your employer directly for damages (Labor Code § 3706), and the law presumes the employer’s negligence caused your injury. 

Sometimes a company officer or manager knowingly breaks a safety order, and that violation causes a fall. A Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board judge can then raise your benefits by 50 percent for “serious and willful misconduct.” The standard is higher than negligence, and the judge must make specific findings. Ignored safety complaints and supervisor negligence are the kind of evidence we look for. 

Call (877) 735-7035 to find out whether your employer carried insurance and which claims you have. 

Count the Damages in a Fall Claim 

A third-party lawsuit after a fall can seek: 

• Past and future medical care, including surgery and rehabilitation 

• Lost wages and lost earning capacity if you cannot return to your trade 

• Pain and suffering, which workers’ compensation does not pay 

• Long-term care and home changes after paralysis or brain injury 

Falls from height can cause traumatic brain injuries and spinal cord injuries. Our Sacramento brain and head injury lawyers and catastrophic injury lawyers handle these cases. 

If a worker dies, a surviving spouse, domestic partner, or child can bring a wrongful death claim (Code Civ. Proc. § 377.60). The family may also qualify for workers’ compensation death benefits. 

Meet the Filing Deadlines 

Step	Deadline
Give your employer written notice of the injury	30 days from the fall
Receive a claim form from your employer	Within 1 working day after your employer learns of the injury
File your workers’ compensation claim	1 year from the injury. Filing the claim form with your employer pauses this deadline until the claim is denied or becomes presumed covered.
File a third-party lawsuit or wrongful death lawsuit	2 years from the injury or death (Code Civ. Proc. § 335.1)
Present a claim to a public agency, if one is responsible	6 months

Exceptions can extend some of these dates, but they are narrow, so call before any date passes. 

Get Answers to Common Questions 

Can I sue my employer after a construction fall? Usually, no. Workers’ compensation is the exclusive remedy against your employer. The exceptions are an employer with no workers’ compensation insurance, covered above, and a short list of narrow exceptions in the Labor Code. 

Am I covered if I am undocumented or have no written contract? Yes. California counts anyone who works for an employer under a written or oral contract of hire as an employee, “whether lawfully or unlawfully employed” (Labor Code § 3351). 

What if my employer calls me an independent contractor? The label on your paperwork does not settle the question. California applies a statutory test that looks at who controlled your work, among other factors (Labor Code § 2775). Bring any contract, text messages, and pay records to your consultation, and we will review how you were hired and supervised. 

What if I was partly at fault for the fall? Workers’ compensation is a no-fault system, so benefits generally do not depend on who caused the fall. In a third-party lawsuit, California reduces your damages by your percentage of fault but does not bar recovery (Li v. Yellow Cab Co., 1975). 

Should I talk to an insurance adjuster? Give your doctors and your employer the facts about the injury. Before you give a recorded statement to any insurance company, call J&Y Law at (877) 735-7035. 

Call J&Y Law for a Free Consultation 

J&Y Law’s founding lawyers, Jason Javaheri and Yosi Yahoudai, were both injured in accidents themselves, so they understand the ins and outs of the legal process. Call (877) 735-7035 for a free consultation. We handle construction fall cases on a contingency fee, which means you pay attorney fees only if we recover compensation for you.