NEW YORK CITY, NY, UNITED STATES, May 29, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ — Firm with 40 years of construction accident experience and more than $2 billion recovered for injured workers urges surviving spouses, children, and parents to understand their rights under New York’s Estates, Powers and Trusts Law before evidence and filing deadlines disappear
Gorayeb & Associates, P.C., the New York personal injury firm representing more than 12,000 injured workers since 1986, today issued public guidance for families who have lost a loved one in a fatal workplace accident, warning that New York’s two year wrongful death deadline often expires long before grieving families understand the legal rights available to them.
According to U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics occupational data released in March 2026, New York State recorded 55 fatal injuries among workers in the construction and extraction occupational group in 2024, with 24 of those deaths caused by falls, slips, and trips. The same BLS release reported 50 fatal injuries in the state’s construction industry sector overall, down from 60 in 2023.
Nationally, the BLS documented 1,032 construction and extraction fatalities the same year, with one worker across all industries dying from a work related injury every 104 minutes. The agency also found that Hispanic and Latino workers carried the highest fatal injury rate of any group for the eighth consecutive year, at 4.3 deaths per 100,000 full time workers, and that 842 of the 1,229 Latino worker fatalities in 2024, roughly 68 percent, involved foreign born workers. Each of those figures represents a household suddenly stripped of a parent, a spouse, or a primary wage earner, frequently with no understanding of the claims available under New York’s Estates, Powers and Trusts Law.
“Forty years of this work has taught me one thing above all,” said Christopher J. Gorayeb, founding partner of Gorayeb & Associates. “The family left behind did not cause the accident, yet they are the ones forced to rebuild a life around the loss. New York gives them two years to act, and the parties responsible are counting on those two years to pass quietly. A family’s right to answers does not depend on a green card, a union card, or the language spoken at the kitchen table.”
Under New York’s wrongful death statute (EPTL 5-4.1), only the personal representative of the deceased’s estate may bring a claim, on behalf of distributees that typically include a surviving spouse, children, and parents. According to the statute, a family must generally file within two years of the date of death, and that window closes permanently once it passes, regardless of how strong the underlying case may be.
When a public entity such as a city agency or the MTA shares responsibility, a Notice of Claim must usually be filed within just 90 days. In fatal construction cases, New York Labor Law 240 and 241(6) can hold property owners and general contractors strictly liable for gravity related deaths such as falls from scaffolds, roofs, and elevated platforms, meaning a family need not prove negligence, only that required safety protections were absent or inadequate.
Families are advised to preserve any photographs or video of the site, identify witnesses by name before memories fade, request OSHA and accident records, and avoid recorded statements to insurance carriers before consulting counsel. Importantly, workers’ compensation death benefits paid to a family do not bar a separate civil wrongful death lawsuit against a negligent third party such as a property owner, general contractor, or equipment manufacturer.
In many construction fatality cases, both claims can and should proceed at the same time.
About Gorayeb & Associates, P.C.
Founded in 1986 by Christopher J. Gorayeb, Gorayeb & Associates, P.C. is a New York personal injury law firm focused on construction accidents and occupational disease. The firm has recovered more than $2 billion in verdicts and settlements for over 12,000 injured workers and is widely recognized among the New York Latino workforce as “The People’s Lawyers” for its bilingual representation, contingency fee structure, and 40 year track record of holding employers, property owners, and manufacturers accountable under New York Labor Law and the Estates, Powers and Trusts Law.
Media Contact:
Ryan McCormick
Goldman McCormick PR
+1 516-901-1103
ryan@goldmanmccormick.com
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