A fall into an uncovered port left open by a contractor at work
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Reviewed & verified by A. Jason Velez, Esq.*
Founding Attorney, 1LAW · Last reviewed August 2024
Legal Inquiry
Consumer Legal Issue
My employer hired a plumber who left the lid off an underground port. I fell almost seven feet and hurt my chest.
Attorney Answer
Being hurt at work by someone else's contractor opens two routes at once, and they interact.
The first is workers' compensation, which covers a workplace injury without asking who was at fault — but it is also exclusive as against the employer. O.C.G.A. § 34-9-11(a) puts the rights under the chapter “in place of all other rights and remedies” against the employer.
The second is an ordinary negligence claim against the contractor, who is not your employer and does not get that protection. Leaving an underground port uncovered is exactly the kind of hazard that supports one, and O.C.G.A. § 51-3-1 states the duty owed by an owner or occupier to those lawfully on the premises.
The two routes are connected by a lien, and it carries a deadline most people never hear about. Under O.C.G.A. § 34-9-11.1, where compensation has been paid the employer or its insurer has a claim against any recovery from the third party. Subsection (c) then provides that if the employee does not bring the tort action within one year of the date of injury, the employer or its insurer may assert it instead. That is a far shorter period than the two years for the injury claim itself.
What you can do
1. Report the injury to your employer in writing if you have not already, and keep a copy. 2. Photograph the port, the missing lid and the area before anything is changed. 3. Find out which company the plumber worked for — the name on the invoice or the van. 4. Get the chest injury documented properly; internal injuries often present later. 5. Speak to a Georgia attorney well inside one year of the injury, because of the § 34-9-11.1(c) point.
⏱ Time limits apply. O.C.G.A. § 9-3-33 requires actions for injuries to the person to be brought within two years after the right of action accrues. Waiting also costs evidence — footage is overwritten and memories fade — so the practical deadline is usually much earlier than the legal one.
A Georgia attorney can tell you quickly how the facts here line up, and most will look at a matter like this at no cost.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Can an injured worker sue a contractor who caused the accident?
Workers' compensation is exclusive as against the employer under O.C.G.A. § 34-9-11(a), but a contractor who is not the employer has no such protection. A negligence claim against that third party can proceed alongside the compensation claim.
What is the one-year rule in Georgia's workers' compensation lien statute?
O.C.G.A. § 34-9-11.1(c) provides that if the employee has not brought the third-party action within one year of the date of injury, the employer or its insurer may assert that cause of action instead. It is much shorter than the ordinary injury deadline.
Does the employer get repaid out of a third-party recovery?
Where compensation has been paid, O.C.G.A. § 34-9-11.1 gives the employer or its insurer a claim against the recovery from the third party, and anything the employer recovers beyond its lien is paid over to the employee.