Houston Warehouse Injury Lawyers

If you got hurt working a warehouse job in Texas and tried to do a little research to figure out your legal and medical options, you probably ran into a confusing answer. The reason is that there is a very good chance the company you work for does not offer traditional workers’ comp.

Yes, you read that right.

Most of Houston’s biggest distributors, including Amazon, Walmart, Sysco, FedEx, UPS, and the regional trucking and parcel outfits that move freight through the Gulf Coast, have opted out of the state workers’ comp system. That’s perfectly legal. But when that is the case, it changes what you should do, what your options are, who pays for your treatment, and how much you can recover.

But it need not be so confusing. This page will help you understand, in plain English, what you need to know after getting injured at a Texas warehouse or distribution facility.

Here’s Why Workers’ Comp Doesn’t Really Apply

There is exactly one state in the country where a private employer can lawfully refuse to carry workers’ compensation, and that state is Texas. Companies that take this route decline to subscribe to the state workers’ comp program and that is why they are referred to as “non-subscribers.” Distribution companies tend to be non-subscribers. Instead, these large distributors run their own internal injured-employee programs.

For the injured Texas worker, the consequences of dealing with a non-subscriber employer are significant. With your employer opting out of the state workers’ comp system, you have

• No automatic payment for medical bills
• No automatic wage replacement, and
• No automatic coverage for rehabilitation.

Instead, the company handles the case internally, privately, usually through what is called an “occupational injury benefit plan.” The clinic you are sent to is typically one the company has a contractual relationship with, and the benefits the so-called “benefit plan” pays out are generally capped well below what a hurt distribution or warehouse worker actually needs.

But here is the good news: Being a non-subscriber also comes at a cost to the company. When they walked away from state-run workers’ comp, they also walked away from the immunity that came with it, meaning (and this is the important part) you retain the right to sue them. In a traditional workers’ comp claim, the injured worker gives up the right to sue their employer in exchange for the safety of the state system. But because Texas workers in non-subscriber situations do not have that safety net, they can still sue their employer for their injuries.

It is important to also know that there is a Texas statute working in your favor here. Section 406.033 of the Labor Code, strips a non-subscriber of three defenses it could normally assert in court. The company cannot say

• That you were partly to blame (even if you were)
• That you knew the job was risky and therefore it was your fault, or
• That your injury was really a coworker’s fault

Now, whether you have a case depends on a variety of factors that really must be determined by a good lawyer. That is the first reason why you should strongly consider making a free appointment with one of the experienced non-subscriber injury attorneys at Armstrong Lee & Baker LLP; we are well versed in this area of the law and have recovered millions for our injured clients.

Warehouse or Driver: Different Injuries, Same Legal Path

As you know, distribution work tends to run on two tracks. The warehouse half loads and pulls freight, runs the dock, drives forklifts, picks orders, and loads pallets onto trucks. The road half hauls that freight to its destination and then unloads it. The jobs are very different, and therefore so too, not surprisingly, are the injuries.

On the warehouse side, the cause of an injury is usually some combination of weight, repetition, and pace. It could be that disc that finally pops after a year single-handedly loading boxes that really should have been a two-person job all along, or the pallet that slips and falls on a worker.

Common warehouse injuries include:

• Slip-and-fall accidents
• Repetitive injuries such as blowing out a knee, muscle pulls and tears, and herniated discs
• Back, neck, shoulder, and leg strains
• Heat exhaustion and dehydration (not uncommon in hot Texas warehouses)

On the road, things are different. Truck drivers can get hurt moving freight at a customer’s site, or in motor vehicle accidents, or, say, when a strap snaps or the load shifts. Common driver injuries include:

• Whiplash
• Broken bones
• Cuts and gashes
• Sprains and strains

While the injuries are not the same, the legal path is. If both the warehouse worker and the delivery driver work for the same kind of non-subscriber employer, both will have the same non-subscriber injury claim available to them if the company’s negligence contributed to what happened.

What to Do the Day You Get Hurt

Here are the essential things to do if you get hurt at work, especially if your employer is a non-subscriber:

1. Report it in writing, ideally before your shift ends: A text message works just fine as does an email. If the company has its own incident form, that’s a great move. What you want is a timestamp the company cannot later claim was never created. Spoken reports to a supervisor can have a way of disappearing that written ones do not.
2. See a doctor you chose, not just the one the company directs you to: The clinic your employer sends you to is under contract with your employer. The staff there may be friendly and the treatment may be competent, but ultimately, remember, they get paid by the company. Texas law allows you to see your own physician for any work injury and you should take advantage of that.
3. Document what hurt you: If possible, take photos of the dock, the truck, the forklift, the pallet, the strap, the load, the spill, whatever the incident was. Conditions change quickly after an accident, so act quickly if you can, and if you can’t, ask a co-worker to do it for you.
4. Identify any witnesses: Get names, email addresses, and phone numbers, and again, if possible, act fast; the witnesses who were with you today may be working at a different facility tomorrow.
5. Document, document, document: Keep all records, such as witness statements, pay stubs, medical records, emails, everything. Hold on to anything that documented what happened. Your lawyer will thank you.
6. Do not sign anything: Within hours of an incident, a non-subscriber company representative is likely to appear with a stack of forms for you, labeled variously, “Waiver,” “Release,” “Acknowledgment,” or maybe “Benefit plan election,” etc. Sign nothing. You are not required to, you do not have to, and you should not. If somebody at the company is pressing you to sign something shortly after getting hurt, that pressure itself is your answer.

Client Reviews

What our clients are saying about us

Kirby C.

Google Review

I cannot recommend Kelly Viktorin at Armstrong Lee & Baker highly enough. After being injured at work, I was incredibly discouraged as many attorneys wouldn’t take my case due to the complexities involved. From our very first consultation, Kelly and her team jumped right in, demonstrating a level of dedication and expertise that immediately put me at ease. Throughout the entire process, their communication was outstanding. I was consistently kept informed of any updates and felt like a priority. Kelly truly went above and beyond to fight for me, and I am so grateful for her hard work and commitment. If you’re facing a challenging work injury case, especially with a Texas non-subscriber, don’t hesitate to reach out to Kelly Viktorin. You’ll be in excellent hands.

Toby B.

Google Review

When I got injured my company didn’t have workers comp. They had something called non subscriber insurance. I tried a dozen or more lawyers and no one would take my case. I lost my house in Texas so right as I was moving back to where I was from, Florida, I called Armstrong Lee & Bkaer. They said they could take my case. Shortly after I meet Adam Grable.
Adam took the case and unraveled it like a champ. It was a difficult case and that’s why other lawyers didn’t take. Over the next year, Adam because a friend and a member of the family. I found him brilliant and personable and when needed he found for me. In the end, we took a settlement even though Adam told me he had a good shot at trial. He understood i wanted this behind me! If you ever find yourself needed a lawyer trust me Adam Grable will be on your side!

Majah W.

Google Review

I had been injured at work, and the attorneys at Armstrong Lee & Baker fought for what I was owed. I’m graciously appreciative for their attentiveness and swiftness with handling my case. Shout out to Lindsey W.

Toby B.

Google Review

When I got injured my company didn’t have workers comp. They had something called non subscriber insurance.
I tried a dozen or more lawyers and no one would take my case.
I lost my house in Texas so right as I was moving back to where I was from, Florida, o call Armstrong and Lee. They said they could take my case. Shortly after I meet Adam Grable.
Adam took the case and unraveled it like a champ. It was a difficult case and that’s why other lawyers didn’t take.
Over the next year, Adam because a friend and a member of the family.
I found him brilliant and personable and when needed he found for me.
In the end, we took a settlement even though Adam told me he had a good shot at trial. He understood i wanted this behind me!
If you ever find yourself needed a lawyer trust me Adam Grable will be on your side!

View More Reviews on Google Maps.

What If I’m Worried About Looking Bad or Getting Fired?

No, despite your fears, getting injured at work and reporting it will not make you “look bad.” In the Houston warehouse and distribution industry, injuries are part of doing business. The HR director at a large distributor has seen hundreds of injury reports and is not going to flag yours as something unusual. The fear of being known as the worker who “complained” is much bigger inside your own head than it is inside the company.

The retaliation piece, that is, being fired or demoted for filing a claim, is also usually a non-issue. Texas is what is called an “at-will “state. That means that employees work at the will of their employer and can be fired for just about any reason, and at will, as well. Except they cannot legally be fired in retaliation for an injury claim.

Here’s why: Most large Texas distribution companies run their occupational injury benefit plan as a federal ERISA plan, and ERISA law makes it illegal to fire, discipline, or discriminate against an employee for filing a claim or pursuing benefits under that plan. Your employer knows this, HR knows this, and they also know that the penalties for violating the ERISA mandates are significant indeed.

So the likelihood of your employer retaliating against you is slimmer than you may think.

“Every challenge is an opportunity for us to make a difference. Let’s work together to turn your personal injury journey into a successful path forward. ”

Scott Armstrong

Partner

What You Can Recover

As stated at the top, because a non-subscriber claim is not a workers’ comp claim, injured workers have the right to sue their employer if their employer’s negligence was a cause for the accident and injury. As such, the categories of damages available are significantly more comprehensive than what the state system would have paid. Those categories include:

• Full lost wages, including overtime, per diem, mileage, and route bonuses: Warehouse workers are entitled to lost wages. Distribution work often pays in layers, and every one of those layers is usually recoverable, not just the base hourly rate the company will sometimes try to use as the calculation.
• All current and future medical expenses: Including the spine work, knee replacements, and rotator cuff repairs that warehouse and distribution injuries famously lead to years after the fact.
• Pain and suffering and mental anguish: These are things the state workers’ compensation system does not compensate for but which are in fact available in a non-subscriber case.
• Diminished earning capacity: When the injury prevents you from doing what you used to do, the gap between what you used to earn and what you can earn going forward is recoverable.
• Exemplary damages: When a company’s negligence rises to the level of gross negligence, a jury may want to punish that company with exemplary, or punitive, damages.

It is also important to understand that your case may include claims against parties other than your employer. The law calls these “third-party claims.” For example, the company whose dock was slippery when you delivered, but no one told you, is a “third party.” The good news (if we can call it that) is that when there are additional third-parties potentially to blame, there is also potentially more insurance available and a resulting higher overall ceiling on what you can recover.

Delaying Getting Treatment Will Only Make Things Worse

Here is the part the dispatcher’s window is not going to tell you: Delaying getting treatment usually only makes matters worse. The “tweak” to your lower back from this morning’s awkward lift is the spinal procedure your health insurance fights you on in a few years. The recurring shoulder twinge you have been treating with ice and Advil is the labrum tear that takes you off your route entirely.

The same delay that can damage your physical health will also erode your legal health. By month nine, the witnesses who were on the dock with you that day have likely moved on to a different distribution center. By year two, the camera footage of the incident has been overwritten on the security loop. The strongest version of your case is the one you can still build when the evidence is fresh.

How Much Time Do You Have to Bring a Claim?

Under Texas law, the personal-injury statute of limitations is two years, measured from the date you got hurt (or discovered you were hurt.) Two years may sound like plenty of time to make decisions and take action, but in reality it is not. The company’s lawyer started working the file the moment your supervisor typed up the incident report. They did not wait; they are gathering evidence and talking to witnesses right now.

And yes, this should be true for you too. The strongest version of your case is the one built as soon as possible after you were injured. That is why calling a Houston warehouse injury lawyer soon after your injury is the right move.

What Will It Cost to Talk to a Houston Warehouse Injury Lawyer?

Nothing.

We at Armstrong Lee & Baker LLP work on contingency. You pay nothing out of pocket while your case is ongoing, and our fee only comes due if a recovery is obtained on your behalf. No recovery, no bill.

When you are ready, we are too. Contact us today to start your free consultation.

C.J. Baker

C.J. Baker represents victims with serious injuries and he won’t let any corporation or insurance company stop his clients from getting complete justice. He has won millions of dollars for victims of 18-wheeler crashes, oilfield equipment failures, offshore platform explosions, and defective medical devices. Our lawyers have 25+ years of combined experience.

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