Queens Warehouse and Distribution Injuries Lawyer

Queens is one of the busiest logistics corridors in the country, and thousands of workers in Long Island City, Maspeth, Jamaica, and Astoria show up every day to move goods through warehouses and distribution centers that never slow down. When you're injured at one of these facilities, the rules are different from a typical accident. You have two potential paths to compensation, and knowing which one applies can mean the difference between a partial recovery and a full one. At The Orlow Firm, our experienced attorneys have represented injured Queens workers for over 40 years. Call us at (646) 647-3398 for a free consultation.

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Queens is home to one of the most concentrated industrial and logistics corridors in New York City, and the workplace injury numbers reflect that reality. Our analysis of OSHA Severe Injury Report data, tracking reported injuries from January 2015 through July 2025, shows that Transportation and Warehousing facilities in Queens generated 19 severe injury reports over that period, with employers in Maspeth, Long Island City, and Corona responsible for the majority.

Looking at broader injury data from the OSHA Injury Tracking Application, Transportation and Warehousing stands out as the most dangerous major industry in Queens, with an injury rate of 5.28 injuries per 100 employees in 2023-2024. That's more than double the Queens-wide average. Our review of OSHA records found that Maspeth, the heart of Queens' warehouse district, has the highest workplace injury rate of any major Queens neighborhood at 4.49 injuries per 100 employees, driven by its concentration of distribution facilities, wholesalers, and last-mile logistics operations.

State-level research confirms the pattern. A study by the National Employment Law Project found that New York State warehouse workers were injured at a rate of 6.5 per 100 workers in 2021, four times the New York State private sector average of 1.4 per 100. These aren't near-misses. The vast majority were injuries severe enough that the worker could not continue their normal job duties.

If you've been injured at a Queens warehouse or distribution center, the law gives you options. Call (646) 647-3398 to talk through what you can recover.

Workers' Comp vs. a Third-Party Lawsuit: Your Two Paths

Most injured warehouse workers know they can file a workers' compensation claim. Fewer know they may also be able to file a separate personal injury lawsuit, and that the two are not mutually exclusive.

Workers' Compensation: The Baseline

New York Workers' Compensation Law provides that if you're injured on the job, you're entitled to benefits regardless of who was at fault. Workers' comp covers your medical bills in full and replaces approximately two-thirds of your lost wages, up to the New York State weekly maximum. You do not need to prove your employer was negligent. Even if you made a mistake that contributed to your injury, you're generally still eligible.

The downside is that workers' comp does not cover pain and suffering, and wage replacement is capped well below what most workers actually earn at full capacity. Under New York Workers' Compensation Law §29(6), workers' compensation is generally the exclusive remedy against your employer. That means you cannot separately sue your employer for negligence.

Third-Party Claims: When You Can Do More

A third-party claim is a personal injury lawsuit against someone other than your employer who caused or contributed to your injury. In a warehouse setting, this comes up more often than people realize.

Defective equipment: If a forklift, conveyor belt, or piece of packing machinery malfunctioned because of a manufacturing defect, you may have a product liability claim against the equipment manufacturer.

Negligent property owners: If your employer leases warehouse space from a third-party landlord who failed to maintain safe premises (broken flooring, bad lighting, faulty loading dock infrastructure), that property owner may be liable.

Trucking companies and drivers: If a delivery truck driver or an outside contractor's negligence caused your loading dock injury, that driver's employer may be a defendant in a personal injury case.

Staffing and temp agency situations: Many Queens warehouse workers are employed through staffing agencies. When the agency is the employer of record but the host warehouse controlled the conditions that caused the injury, the legal question of who is responsible requires careful analysis.

A third-party lawsuit lets you recover what workers' comp leaves out: pain and suffering, full economic losses, future care beyond what the Workers' Compensation Board authorizes, and diminished earning capacity. Pursuing both a workers' comp claim and a third-party lawsuit is permitted, though a workers' comp lien may apply to a portion of any third-party recovery. A lawyer can often negotiate that lien.

The "Grave Injury" Exception

In rare cases, New York law permits a direct lawsuit against your employer. Under New York Workers' Compensation Law, a "grave injury" (which includes death, amputation, paraplegia, permanent blindness or deafness, loss of multiple fingers or toes, or an acquired brain injury causing permanent total disability) creates an exception to the exclusive remedy rule.

Call (646) 647-3398 for a free evaluation of which claims apply in your situation.

Common Warehouse Injuries in Queens Facilities

Workers at Queens distribution centers face hazards distinct from office environments, and the injuries that result are often serious. Our firm has represented workers with injuries in every category below.

Forklift Accidents

Forklifts are responsible for approximately 7,500 injuries and nearly 100 fatalities across the United States each year, according to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. In Queens warehouses, where narrow aisles, high throughput pressure, and limited visibility create dangerous conditions, forklift accidents take the form of tip-overs, pedestrian strikes, and crushing injuries where a worker becomes pinned between a forklift and shelving, a wall, or a loading dock door.

Loading Dock Injuries

Industry safety data, widely cited in OSHA compliance literature, shows that 25% of all warehouse accidents happen at the loading dock. Queens distribution facilities, particularly in Maspeth and Long Island City, run receiving and shipping operations around the clock. Loading docks present a consistent set of hazards: falls from dock edges that average 44 to 48 inches in height, crushing injuries when trucks pull away without warning, and carbon monoxide exposure when idling trucks remain near open dock doors for extended periods.

Repetitive Motion and Overexertion

Back injuries, shoulder injuries, carpal tunnel syndrome, and tendonitis are the chronic workplace injuries of warehouse work. Reaching, twisting, bending, and lifting under quota pressure causes musculoskeletal injuries that develop gradually and are no less real or compensable than acute trauma. New York's Warehouse Worker Protection Act, discussed in the next section, specifically addresses the injury risk created by unreasonable quotas.

Struck by Falling Objects and Shelf Collapses

Our analysis of OSHA severe injury records from Queens found that "struck by falling object or equipment" was the third most common injury event type in the borough, accounting for nearly 4% of all severe injury reports. In warehouse environments, this includes inventory knocked from high racks, forklift-dislodged pallets, and cascading shelf collapses, where one shelf struck by equipment causes adjacent shelving to fall.

Machinery Entanglement and Amputations

Conveyor belts, band saws, packaging equipment, and baling machines present entanglement and crush risks that can result in amputations. Our analysis of OSHA records found 55 workplace amputations in Queens between 2015 and July 2025, primarily affecting fingers and hands from machinery incidents in wholesale, manufacturing, and warehousing settings.

Slips, Trips, and Falls

Falls account for nearly half of all severe injury incidents reported to OSHA from Queens workplaces. In warehouses, wet loading dock surfaces, oil and hydraulic fluid spills, and cluttered aisles create slip-and-fall conditions throughout the year. Winter months add ice accumulation near dock doors and in outdoor yard areas.

The New York Warehouse Worker Protection Act

In December 2022, New York became one of the first states in the country to enact a law specifically addressing warehouse worker safety: the Warehouse Worker Protection Act (WWPA). The law was enacted in December 2022, took effect June 2023, and was expanded in June 2025.

If you work at a Queens distribution facility with 100 or more employees at that location, or if your employer has 1,000 or more warehouse workers across New York State, the WWPA applies to you. This includes workers employed through temp agencies or staffing companies when the host warehouse controls working conditions.

What the WWPA Requires

Your employer must give you a written description of any quota you're expected to meet. That disclosure must be in your primary language, not just in English. If the quota changes, you must receive updated notice within two days.

You have the right to request your personal work speed data and six months of aggregate performance data for workers in similar roles, at no cost to you, within seven business days of your request.

Your employer cannot discipline or fire you for failing to meet a quota they haven't disclosed to you in writing. You cannot be punished for taking legally required bathroom, meal, or rest breaks, and quotas cannot be structured to pressure you to skip those breaks.

Since June 2025, employers must also maintain written injury reduction programs designed to identify and minimize the risk of musculoskeletal disorders caused by repetitive work. You have the right to participate in job evaluations and to access those safety reports within one business day.

Why This Matters for Your Injury Claim

WWPA violations can directly affect a workers' compensation claim or a third-party lawsuit. If an employer fails to implement an injury reduction program, fails to disclose a quota that was driving the unsafe pace of work, or retaliates against you after a workplace injury, those failures may be relevant to establishing fault and damages in a legal proceeding.

If you believe your employer has violated the WWPA, you can file a complaint with the New York Department of Labor online or by mail (Form SH550). The New York Attorney General also has independent enforcement authority.

The law is available from the New York Department of Labor at dol.ny.gov/WWPA.

Critical Deadlines for Workers' Compensation Claims

Missing a deadline can cost you benefits you've already earned. The rules in New York are specific.

30 days to notify your employer. Under New York Workers' Compensation Law §18, you must notify your employer in writing within 30 days of your injury. Do this immediately and keep a copy. If you were injured in Long Island City, Maspeth, Jamaica, or anywhere in Queens, get written notice to your employer's HR or supervisory staff as soon as possible.

Two years to file a claim with the Workers' Compensation Board. Under NY WCL §28, your formal claim must be filed within two years of the accident date, or two years from the date of your last workers' comp payment, whichever is later. For occupational diseases that develop gradually, like repetitive stress injuries, the two-year clock runs from the date of disablement and the date you knew or should have known the condition was work-related.

Three years for a third-party personal injury lawsuit. Under New York CPLR §214, a personal injury lawsuit against a third party (equipment manufacturer, property owner, outside contractor) must be filed within three years of the injury.

All workers are covered. New York Workers' Compensation Law protects workers regardless of immigration status. Undocumented workers have the same rights to file a workers' comp claim as any other New York employee. Our firm has represented undocumented workers in workplace injury cases, including a $2,474,000 recovery for an undocumented worker who was electrocuted and fell at a job site.

Your treating physician must also file a Form C-4 with the Workers' Compensation Board within 48 hours of treatment. Your employer is required to notify its insurer and the Board within 10 days of learning of your injury.

Our Results in Industrial Injury Cases

$2,500,000 — A construction worker was severely injured when a wall collapsed onto the forklift he was operating, requiring back surgery.

$2,474,000 — An undocumented worker was electrocuted on a scaffold and fell, sustaining back and knee injuries requiring surgery.

$2,100,000 — An undocumented worker fell from a scaffold and sustained elbow and shoulder injuries requiring surgery.

$750,000 — A worker fell from a lift when it was struck by a truck, sustaining a hip injury requiring surgery.

$550,000 — A worker suffered a fingertip amputation from machinery at a work site.

Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.

Frequently Asked Questions About Queens Warehouse Injury Claims

Can I sue my employer for a warehouse injury in New York?

In most cases, no. Workers' compensation is the exclusive remedy against your employer under New York law. However, you can file a personal injury lawsuit against a third party, such as an equipment manufacturer, a negligent property owner, or an outside contractor, whose negligence contributed to your injury. This is separate from, and in addition to, your workers' comp claim.

What if my employer says my injury was my own fault?

Workers' compensation is a no-fault system. You don't need to prove your employer or anyone else was responsible to receive medical benefits and wage replacement. You generally remain eligible even if you were partially responsible for the accident, with limited exceptions for injuries caused by willful misconduct or intoxication.

Can I be fired for filing a workers' compensation claim in New York?

No. New York law prohibits employer retaliation against workers who file workers' compensation claims. Under the Warehouse Worker Protection Act, workers at covered facilities are also protected from retaliation for exercising rights related to quotas and injury reduction programs, with a rebuttable presumption of retaliation if adverse action is taken within 90 days of the employee exercising those rights.

What if I work at the warehouse through a temp agency?

Your workers' compensation coverage runs through the staffing agency, which is typically considered your employer of record. However, the host warehouse, the company that controlled your working conditions and the site where you were injured, may be liable in a third-party personal injury lawsuit. These employment status questions are complex, and an attorney can evaluate who can be held responsible for your injuries.

How long does a warehouse workers' compensation case take?

Uncomplicated claims where liability is not disputed can resolve in a matter of months. Claims that are contested by the employer's insurer can take one to three years through the Workers' Compensation Board hearing process. A third-party personal injury lawsuit typically takes two to four years to resolve, though settlement discussions often begin before trial.

What if my employer doesn't have workers' compensation insurance?

All New York employers are required by law to carry workers' compensation insurance. If your employer failed to comply, you can file a claim with the New York Uninsured Employers Fund (UEF), which steps in to provide benefits. Your employer also faces substantial civil and criminal penalties for failure to insure. Our attorneys can walk you through this process.

Contact a Queens Warehouse and Distribution Injuries Lawyer Today

If you've been injured at a distribution center or warehouse in Queens, in Long Island City, Maspeth, Jamaica, Astoria, or anywhere in the borough, don't try to handle the workers' compensation system on your own. The insurance companies have attorneys working to minimize what they pay. You deserve representation from attorneys who have protected injured workers throughout Queens for over 40 years.

Adam Orlow, a former President of the Queens County Bar Association (2022-2023), and his partners at The Orlow Firm handle warehouse and industrial injury cases on contingency. You pay nothing unless we recover compensation for you. We speak Spanish (Se Habla Español), and if your injuries prevent you from coming to us, we can come to you.

Call (646) 647-3398 for a free consultation.

Se Habla Español | Main office: 71-18 Main Street, Queens, NY 11367 | Four NYC office locations | We can come to you

Sources & Official Resources

New York Laws Cited

1. NY Workers' Compensation Law §18 — Notice of Injury (30-day employer notification requirement)
2. NY Workers' Compensation Law §28 — Limitation of Right to Compensation (2-year filing deadline)
3. NY Workers' Compensation Law §29(6) — Exclusive Remedy Rule
4. CPLR §214 — Statute of Limitations for Personal Injury Actions (3 years)

New York Labor Laws

5. NY Warehouse Worker Protection Act (WWPA) — NY Department of Labor

Federal Safety Sources

6. NIOSH Alert Publication No. 2001-109 — Preventing Injuries and Deaths of Workers Who Operate or Work Near Forklifts
7. OSHA — Powered Industrial Trucks: Forklift Safety Standards (29 CFR 1910.178)

Data Methodology

Queens workplace injury statistics were calculated by The Orlow Firm's research team from publicly available OSHA records. OSHA Severe Injury Report (SIR) data (January 2015 through July 2025) and OSHA Injury Tracking Application (ITA) Form 300A data (2023-2024) are reported at the establishment level, identified by address. We filtered and aggregated these records by Queens zip codes to produce the borough- and neighborhood-level statistics cited above. OSHA does not publish pre-calculated Queens-specific breakdowns for these datasets.