Construction Site Injuries in Florida

Florida's workers' compensation law makes the employer's liability for a work injury exclusive, so an injured construction worker's claim against the employer generally goes through workers' comp, while a lawsuit against a negligent third party (someone other than the employer or co-workers) is still allowed. On a construction job, when a contractor sublets work, the employees of the contractor and subcontractors are treated as employed in one business and the contractor must secure compensation for them, except for employees of a subcontractor that has its own coverage; contractors and subcontractors in construction must carry coverage. The scaffold-law question (a special statute making owners or contractors liable for falls) was not verified in this review.

Modified comparative fault (51% bar). In negligence cases, an injured person's own fault reduces the damages proportionately, but a person found more than 50% at fault for his or her own harm recovers nothing. This bar does not apply to personal injury or wrongful death claims for medical negligence, where pure comparative fault applies. Each defendant generally pays only its own percentage of fault.

A lawsuit founded on negligence (such as most car-accident and slip-and-fall injury claims) must be filed within 2 years. Claims for assault, battery, false imprisonment and other intentional torts have 4 years, as do product-related injury claims.