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Hard Hats & Justice

Hard Hats & Justice

Written by: Gorayeb
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 Hard Hats & Justice is the podcast dedicated to New York's construction workers and their families. Each episode explores real stories of workplace injuries, safety issues, and the fight for fair compensation. Hosted by the team at Gorayeb & Associates — trusted advocates for injured workers for over 40 years — this show brings expert legal insight, interviews with workers, and updates on the laws that protect New York's workforce. For more information visit: https://www.gorayeb.com/en/2025 Social Sciences
Episodes
  • Construction Negligence: The Accidents That Should Never Happen

    Construction Negligence: The Accidents That Should Never Happen
    Dec 23 2025

    Construction workers face life-threatening hazards every day, but what most don't realize is that the majority of job site fatalities aren't accidents—they're violations of federal and state safety laws. In this episode of Hard Hats & Justice, construction accident attorney Chris Gorayeb breaks down the five most common negligence-related incidents on construction sites: falls from elevation, struck-by accidents involving falling objects, caught-between incidents with machinery, electrocutions, and chemical burns. Each of these catastrophic events shares a common thread: employers who cut corners on safety, fail to provide proper equipment, skip mandatory training, or rush jobs without regard for worker protection. These aren't unfortunate mishaps—they're actionable violations that give injured workers the right to pursue compensation beyond workers' compensation claims.

    Gorayeb exposes the tactics contractors use to avoid liability, including pressuring injured workers not to call ambulances, discouraging them from filing workers' compensation claims, and convincing them they have no legal recourse. The reality is that under New York labor law, building owners and general contractors are legally responsible when safety violations cause injuries. Workers have the right to document accidents, seek immediate medical treatment, refuse to sign incident reports written by employers, and consult with experienced construction accident attorneys. With nearly 40 years of experience representing over 12,000 construction workers and recovering more than $2 billion in compensation, Gorea & Associates provides the expertise injured workers need to protect themselves and their families when negligence turns a dangerous job into a devastating injury.

    5 Key Takeaways
    • Falls account for 40% of construction fatalities – Missing guardrails, unsafe scaffolding, defective ladders, and lack of fall protection harnesses are violations of OSHA and New York State law, not acceptable risks
    • Employers are legally required to provide safety equipment – If you're sent onto an elevated surface, near machinery, or around hazardous chemicals without proper protection, that's a violation that creates legal liability
    • Building owners and general contractors are responsible – Under New York labor law, the parties controlling the worksite are liable for safety violations, not just your direct employer
    • Never sign accident reports written by your employer – Bosses who discourage you from calling ambulances, seeing doctors, or filing workers' compensation claims are protecting their bottom line, not your rights
    • You have legal options beyond workers' compensation – Injured construction workers can pursue lawsuits against building owners and general contractors for violations of safety laws, potentially recovering significantly more compensation than workers' comp alone

    About Gorayeb & Associates, P.C.

    Founded in 1986, Gorayeb & Associates, P.C. is one of New York's leading personal injury law firms, specializing in construction accident litigation. The firm has represented more than 12,000 injured workers and secured over $2 billion in verdicts and settlements.
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    13 mins
  • The Most Dangerous Jobs on a Construction Site

    The Most Dangerous Jobs on a Construction Site
    Dec 5 2025
    This episode of Hard Hats & Justice lays out the most dangerous jobs in New York construction—and the legal protections workers are owed but too often never receive. Chris Gorayeb breaks down the hazards tied to demolition, high-elevation work, towers, confined spaces, and defective tools, showing how nearly every catastrophic injury stems from preventable safety failures. He explains exactly when the law places responsibility on building owners and general contractors, why falls remain the leading cause of death in the industry, and how violations of Labor Law §240(1) and equipment-safety statutes can make a case extremely valuable. The message is blunt: workers have more rights than they're told, and if they're injured on any of these high-risk sites, they may be entitled to significant compensation—regardless of what an employer claims. FULL TRANSCRIPT (As provided, unedited) The demolition worker is struck by an unsecured wall. A roofer and Queens climbs one story too high without proper protection and falls. A labrum in Hatton fires a defective nail gun and is sent straight to the hospital emergency room. Different workers, different days, same problem, preventable dangers. And every one of them had the law on their side, but not the protection they deserved. I'm Chris Garea. If you've worked in construction in New York, you already know the truth. It's one of the most dangerous jobs in America, but inside the industry, some jobs and some worksites are far more lethal than others. Today we're breaking down the most hazardous roles and environments OSHA has identified. Demolition, high elevation work, communication towers, confined spaces, defective tools, and equipment, and more. Not to scare you, but to arm you. Because when you know the risks, you can demand the protections the law requires. And if you've been injured doing any of these jobs, you may need, you may be, entailed, to significant financial compensation, no matter what your employer tells you. Let's start with demolition. OSHA calls it reverse engineering with additional hazards. That's a polite way of saying everything that can go wrong usually does. And anyone that works in construction and demolition knows that's the truth. You can be burned, crushed, injured by falling debris, or falling persons. You can be electrocuted. Most of these risks are preventable, but demolition crews are often pushed to work fast. They're short on manpower. There's not set proper safety, planning. If you're on a demolition team and some that collapses, falls, or explodes, that's not part of the job. That's a legal failure by whoever runs the site. Let's talk about working in heights. Elevation-related risks. Whether someone is working on a house or a skyscraper, working at a height is the deadliest job in construction. Falls make up nearly 40% of all construction-related deaths in the United States every year. Often a worker falls because no harness has been provided or because the scaffold wasn't secured. Or guardrails were not in place. Those things in New York state are a violation of something called the New York state labor law, Section 240, sub-1, and which make the owner of a building and the general contractors that work for those owners responsible for accidents involving falls. When someone falls, the law protects that person. Not site safety, not the foreman, or the superintendent of the job site can tell you, the accident was your fault. You should have been more careful. The law is crystal clear. When you are working at a height, you must be provided with fall protection. And if you are not, the law has been violated and both the owner and general contractor are responsible for those violations. Let's talk about power tools. The law says that all tools and equipment must be safe and in good working order. For instance, a grinder without a guard is a violation of the law. An unguarded table saw is a violation of the law. A defective nail gun. Those are all violations of the law. The law says that all equipment on a job site must be safe and in good working order. If you are using one of those tools or piece of equipment that is not in good working order or is unguarded and you are injured, a violation of the law has occurred. And a violation occurs again. Both the owner and the general contractor are responsible for those violations, which means that you have a case that can be extremely valuable and that you will win. The most dangerous work sites that we often run into or we obtain clients involved in is people working on towers, roofs, one slip and fall, one misstep, one defective railing, a loose ocean plank can result in devastating injuries and unfortunately, occasionally death. In fact, just yesterday, we settled a case for a family where a gentleman fell 40 feet and died while working on a car dealership. Confined spaces are also dangerous places. There are particular laws regarding those. We are currently representing an ...
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    10 mins
  • The Judgment They Tried to Erase

    The Judgment They Tried to Erase
    Dec 5 2025
    This episode of Hard Hats & Justice exposes the extraordinary legal battle behind "The Judgment They Tried to Erase." After construction worker Denelli Garcia suffered a devastating fall down a flooded stairwell, her employer tried to silence the truth to dodge responsibility. When the building owner and general contractor ignored the lawsuit entirely, Gorayeb & Associates secured a $5 million default judgment—and spent years forcing the defendants out of hiding. Even after multiple failed appeals, stalling tactics, and a last-ditch move to federal court, the truth held. The firm ultimately compelled the defendants to pay Ms. Garcia millions in compensation for her life-altering injuries. It's a blistering look at how far some companies will go to avoid accountability—and how relentless legal pressure can still deliver justice. FULL TRANSCRIPT (As provided, unedited) Hello, this is Chris Gareab bringing you episode three of Hard Hats and Justice. Today we will have the judgment they tried to erase. Back on July 25, 2016, a woman named Denelli Garcia was working in construction at a new hotel being erected in Queens, New York. That hotel had a tendency to have a flooded basement. And it was Ms. Garcia's job to clean up the mess every time it flooded. On the day of the accident, she was directed to go down a metal set of 12 stairs to the basement with a mop and a bucket to dry things up. Unfortunately, the stairs were wet and slippery. And as she tried to descend the stairs, she slipped and fell approximately 10 steps down into the basement, severely injuring her back. The boss upon learning of the accident refused to call an ambulance. In fact, he said to Ms. Garcia, go home and if you need medical attention, tell them that you got hurt at home. I will pay all of the bills. Don't worry about a thing. Now why would a boss do something like that? Why would a boss ask his or her employee to not tell the truth? The simple answer is to save money. How would someone save money in that way? Well, if the employee says that they weren't hurt at work, then they won't be entitled to workers' compensation and the boss will save money. If the employee says I wasn't hurt at work, then they won't be able to hire an attorney to start a lawsuit against the building owner and enforce their rights pursuant to the University of the state labor law. That is what many, many employers try to do. And that's what they tried to do to Mrs. Garcia. At Ms. Garcia hired my law firm, Goreb, and Associates, and we started a lawsuit from Ms. Garcia suing the building owner and the general contractor alleging that they were both negligent and had violated the New York State labor law. We served to summons and complaints upon the defendants through the New York State Secretary of State. And what happened? They ignored the service of the summons and complaint. We wrote letters to them. They still ignored it. They were hiding. Ultimately, we filed a motion with the court asking the court to grant a default against the defendants who refused to respond to the lawsuit. And the court, in fact, did grant that motion an issue to default and ordered that there would be a mini trial to assess or to determine how much money Ms. Garcia should receive. We had that mini trial and the judge awarded Ms. Garcia $5 million. After that, the rule fund started because the defendants, despite that judgment, still continued to hide. They pretended that there was no lawsuit. And ultimately, when we hired the sheriff to try to force a sale of the building, they then responded. And what did they do? They denied that they knew anything about the lawsuit until very recently. They tried to get a judge to set that judgment aside and the judge refused. Then they tried an appeal and the appellate court refused. And after all of that, they then tried to go to the highest court in New York state to try to get the judgment set aside and that failed. And then ultimately, in the last-ish effort, they went to federal court and nothing good happened there for them. Ultimately, through the efforts of my law firm and the efforts of the sheriff, they agreed to pay Ms. Garcia millions of dollars. Why do they do that? Because they knew if they didn't settle with us and compensate her for the injuries that she had sustained, including needing surgery on her spine, that we would force the sale of their building. We would take their building away from them and they would have nothing. I'm very proud of the work that we've done for Ms. Garcia. It was possible that she would have ended up with nothing. But through our efforts, through years and years of work, we were able to get her substantial compensation from defendants who wanted to hide and pretend that they were immune, that we couldn't find them, that we couldn't obtain justice. And ultimately, we did. This is the story of Ms. Garcia. This is the last episode of Hard Hats and Justice. And I look forward to seeing you again ...
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    7 mins
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