Losing a family member on a construction site is a devastation nothing prepares you for — and it arrives with immediate, practical fears: how the family will pay the bills, what happens next, and whether anyone will be held accountable. I have represented Bay Area families through this, and I want you to know two things at the outset. First, you do not have to figure any of this out alone or quickly. Second, the check workers’ compensation offers is very likely not the full measure of what your family is owed. As a San Francisco wrongful death lawyer practicing since 2009, my job is to make sure a company’s negligence is not quietly written off as the cost of doing business.
Workers’ Comp Death Benefits Are Not the Whole Case
When a worker is killed on the job, workers’ compensation provides death benefits to dependents — burial expenses and support payments. Those benefits exist regardless of fault, and your family should claim them. But they are capped, they end, and they include nothing for what your family actually lost: a husband, a wife, a father, a mother.
Workers’ comp is also, generally, the only remedy against the worker’s own employer. But construction sites are crowded with other companies — and when a party other than the employer caused or contributed to the death, the family may have a separate wrongful death lawsuit with full damages on top of the workers’ comp benefits. Common third-party defendants include:
- A subcontractor from a different company whose crew created the hazard — the falling load, the unshored trench, the energized line
- The manufacturer of defective equipment — a failed lift, crane, scaffold component, or safety device
- A negligent driver or equipment operator, in deaths that overlap with the vehicle collision cases and commercial vehicle and equipment cases I handle
- In some circumstances, a property owner or general contractor who retained control over the unsafe condition — an area of California law with real limits that requires case-by-case analysis
Cal/OSHA investigates construction fatalities, and its findings — citations, violation histories, witness statements — often become powerful evidence in the family’s civil case. I obtain and build on that record rather than waiting for it.
Who Can Bring a Wrongful Death Claim in California
California Code of Civil Procedure section 377.60 defines who may file: the surviving spouse or domestic partner, children, and, where there is no surviving line of descent, other family members such as parents — as well as certain family members who were financially dependent on the person who died. Sorting out who holds the claim matters, because California requires wrongful death claimants to be joined in a single action. I handle that structure so the family does not have to.
What a Family Can Recover
A wrongful death case compensates the family’s own losses: the financial support the person would have provided over a lifetime, the value of household services, funeral and burial expenses, and — what juries treat with the seriousness it deserves — the loss of the person’s love, companionship, protection, and guidance. A separate survival claim, brought on behalf of the estate, can recover certain losses the person themselves suffered before death. These are not windfalls; they are the law’s attempt to put a number on what negligence took.
Killed on a Public Works Project? The Deadline May Be Six Months
Much of Bay Area construction is public work — city and county projects, school district construction, Caltrans roadway work, transit projects. If a government entity’s negligence contributed to the death, the claim falls under the California Government Claims Act, and under Government Code section 911.2 the family generally must file a written government claim within six months. That deadline runs while a family is still grieving, which is exactly why it is missed — and missing it is almost always fatal to the claim. If any public entity is involved, contact an attorney immediately.
Your Family’s Immigration Status Does Not Bar the Claim
San Francisco’s construction workforce is built on immigrant labor, and many of the families I represent are Spanish-speaking. California law is clear: a wrongful death claim does not depend on the immigration status of the person who died or of the family members bringing it. Everything you discuss with your attorney is confidential. Some employers and insurers count on a family’s fear to make the case disappear — do not let that happen to yours.
Why Families Choose a Trial Attorney for These Cases
Construction fatality cases are defended hard, because the exposure is real. Insurers pay full value to families whose attorney is prepared to try the case — and discount everyone else. As a trial-tested attorney, I build the wrongful death cases I handle for trial from the first day, with the Cal/OSHA record, independent experts, and economists to prove a lifetime of loss. I have recovered $25 million+ for Bay Area clients and families — including fatal-injury and catastrophic cases such as fatal traumatic brain injuries. And I handle everything personally, in English or Spanish, as a direct Spanish-speaking attorney — no interpreter between me and your family at the worst moment of your lives.
Talk to a Construction Wrongful Death Lawyer in San Francisco — Free and Confidential
There is no obligation and no cost to understand your family’s rights. Call (415) 851-4557 or schedule a free, confidential consultation when your family is ready. Se habla español.
Frequently Asked Questions
Often no. Workers’ compensation death benefits are generally the only remedy against the employer itself, but if any other party contributed to the death — a subcontractor, an equipment manufacturer, a negligent driver, or in some cases a property owner or general contractor — the family may have a separate wrongful death lawsuit with full damages in addition to the workers’ comp benefits.
Under Code of Civil Procedure section 377.60, generally the surviving spouse or domestic partner and children, and where there is no surviving line of descent, other family members such as parents — as well as certain financially dependent family members. California requires the claimants to proceed together in one action.
The financial support your loved one would have provided over their lifetime, household services, funeral and burial costs, and the loss of love, companionship, protection, and guidance. A separate survival claim on behalf of the estate can recover certain additional losses.
Generally two years from the date of death for a wrongful death lawsuit in California — but if a government entity is involved, a written government claim is generally required within six months. On public works projects, that shorter deadline frequently applies, so speak with an attorney right away.
Usually yes. Cal/OSHA investigates workplace fatalities, and its citations and findings often become important evidence of safety violations in the family’s civil case. An attorney can obtain the investigation record and build on it with independent experts.
Yes. A wrongful death claim in California does not depend on the immigration status of the person who died or of the family members bringing the claim, and your discussions with your attorney are confidential.
Nothing upfront. This firm works on a contingency fee basis — no attorney fees unless we recover compensation for your family. The consultation is free and confidential, in English or Spanish.