Forklift Accidents in New York: Who Can Be Held Responsible Besides Your Employer

How forklift injuries happen

Forklift accidents follow a small number of patterns:

• Struck-by. A forklift backing up or turning hits a worker on foot, often in an aisle with poor sightlines or no marked walkway.
• Tip-overs. A forklift rolls when it turns too fast, carries a load too high, travels on a ramp or uneven ground, or is overloaded. An operator who jumps from a tipping forklift is often crushed by it.
• Falling loads. Pallets or materials fall from raised forks or from racking the forklift strikes.
• Dock accidents. A forklift drives off a loading dock edge, or a trailer pulls away from the dock while a forklift is inside it.
• Crush and pinch injuries between the forklift and a wall, rack or another vehicle.
• Workers lifted on the forks, standing on a pallet instead of in a proper work platform, and falling.

Federal OSHA rules for powered industrial trucks require that operators be trained and evaluated before they drive a forklift, and set rules on inspection and safe operation. Violations of those rules are often central evidence in a forklift case.

Your employer: workers' compensation, and usually nothing more

If you were hurt on the job, workers' compensation generally pays your medical treatment and part of your lost wages, regardless of who was at fault. In most cases it is also the only claim you can bring against your own employer. Two deadlines matter from the start: written notice to your employer within 30 days under Workers' Compensation Law § 18, and a claim with the Workers' Compensation Board within two years under § 28; how to file is explained by the New York State Workers' Compensation Board.

Workers' compensation does not pay for pain and suffering, and its wage benefits replace only part of your income. That is why the claims against other companies matter so much. Our article on workers' comp vs. a personal injury claim explains how the two fit together, and how a comp carrier is repaid from a third-party recovery.

Who else may be responsible

The forklift's manufacturer

Forklifts can be defectively designed or built. Product liability claims in forklift cases often involve missing or inadequate operator restraints, rollover protection, backup alarms and lights, mast and chain failures, brake and steering defects, and warnings that did not tell operators what they needed to know. A manufacturer can be responsible even if your employer was also careless. These claims depend on preserving the forklift itself, before it is repaired, modified or returned to service. See our product liability page for how defect claims work.

The company that owned, leased or maintained the forklift

Many warehouses rent their forklifts or use outside companies to service them. A rental or service company that failed to fix known brake, steering or hydraulic problems can be responsible for the consequences.

Another company's operator

Warehouses and docks are shared spaces. If a forklift driven by an employee of a different company — a staffing agency, a logistics contractor, the building's own staff — struck you, that company can be responsible for its driver's negligence. Delivery drivers hurt while unloading at someone else's dock are in this position constantly.

The property owner and general contractor on a construction site

When a forklift injury happens on a construction, demolition or renovation site, New York's Labor Law can apply. Labor Law § 241(6) requires owners and contractors to comply with specific rules in the state's Industrial Code, which includes provisions for power-operated equipment. If a load fell from a height or a worker fell from a raised platform, Labor Law § 240(1) — the Scaffold Law — may also apply. Our article on the Scaffold Law explains it in detail.

The warehouse or premises owner

The owner of the building controls the floor, the lighting, the aisles, the dock plates and the racking. Uneven floors, broken dock levelers, unmarked pedestrian routes and overloaded racks are premises conditions that can make the owner responsible.

Can your employer be brought into the case anyway?

Sometimes, indirectly. When you sue a third party, that company may try to shift part of the cost back to your employer. New York limits that. Under Workers' Compensation Law § 11, a third party generally cannot seek contribution or indemnity from your employer unless you suffered a "grave injury" — a list that includes death, amputation or permanent total loss of use of an arm, leg, hand or foot, paraplegia or quadriplegia, and certain brain injuries causing permanent total disability — or unless the employer agreed in a written contract to indemnify that company. This rarely changes your recovery, but it shapes how the defendants fight among themselves.

If you are not an employee at all

Forklifts also operate in places the public goes: big-box home improvement stores, warehouse clubs, garden centers, lumber yards. A customer struck by a forklift in a store aisle, or hurt by merchandise knocked from a high shelf, has an ordinary negligence claim against the store. Stores that run forklifts while customers are present generally use spotters, barriers or cordoned aisles; a failure to do so is evidence of negligence. There is no workers' compensation in these cases, and pain and suffering is fully recoverable. See our guide to the elements of premises liability.

Injuries and what they mean for a claim

Forklift injuries are rarely minor. Crushed feet and ankles from a forklift wheel, leg and pelvic fractures, spinal injuries, head injuries from falling loads, and amputations are all common. Because a third-party case can recover what workers' compensation does not — pain and suffering, full lost earnings, and loss of future earning capacity — the difference between a comp-only case and one with a viable third-party claim can be enormous.

Fault in a forklift case

Expect the companies involved to argue that the injured worker was partly at fault: walking outside a marked lane, standing under a raised load, or operating the forklift without proper training. In these non-vehicle cases, New York's rule is pure comparative fault: under CPLR 1411, your share of fault reduces your recovery but does not bar it. Under the Scaffold Law, a worker's own carelessness generally does not reduce the recovery, and it defeats the claim only if it was the sole cause of the accident. Our comparative negligence guide explains more.

Evidence to protect right away

• The forklift. Ask, in writing, that it be kept as it is. Repairs and modifications can erase a defect.
• Video. Most warehouses and docks are covered by cameras, and most systems overwrite within days or weeks.
• Training and certification records for whoever was operating the forklift.
• Inspection and maintenance logs, including daily pre-shift checklists.
• Incident reports and any OSHA inspection records.
• Contracts between the companies on site, which show who controlled what.
• Names of co-workers who saw the accident.

Deadlines

Workers' compensation: notice to your employer within 30 days and a claim within two years. A personal injury lawsuit against a third party generally must be filed within three years. If a public entity owns the site — a school construction project, a public authority's facility — a notice of claim is generally due within 90 days. See New York's filing deadlines.

Forklift claims are handled by our workers' compensation practice on the comp side, and lawsuits against other companies are handled on a contingency fee.

Common questions

Can I sue my employer for a forklift accident in New York?

Usually not. Workers' compensation is generally the only remedy against your own employer. But you may be able to sue other companies, such as the forklift's manufacturer, a rental or service company, another company's operator, or the property owner.

Can I sue the forklift manufacturer?

Yes, if a defect in the forklift's design, manufacture or warnings contributed to the accident. Preserving the forklift before it is repaired is critical to that claim.

What if I was a customer hit by a forklift in a store?

You can bring a negligence claim against the store. Workers' compensation does not apply, and you can recover pain and suffering if the store's negligence caused your injury.

Does the Scaffold Law apply to forklift accidents?

Sometimes. On a construction site, Labor Law § 240(1) can apply when a load falls from a height or a worker falls from an elevated platform, and § 241(6) can apply when an Industrial Code rule was violated.

How long do I have after a forklift accident?

Notify your employer within 30 days and file a workers' compensation claim within two years. A lawsuit against a third party is generally due within three years.

This page is general information about New York law. It is not legal advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship with Davidov & Cohen Law. To talk about your own situation, tell us what happened.