Suffered a Lifting Injury at Work in Texas? Our Work Injury Lawyers Can Help.

A lifting injury can happen on the most ordinary workday, doing a task you have performed a hundred times before. One awkward movement, one load that is too heavy, one moment without the equipment that should have been provided — and you are facing a herniated disc, a torn rotator cuff, or a debilitating back injury that may affect you for years. For workers in Dallas, Fort Worth, and throughout Texas whose employers have opted out of workers' compensation, a serious lifting injury is not just a medical crisis. It is a legal one, and the compensation available through a non-subscriber lawsuit is far greater than anything workers' comp provides.

Armstrong Law, PLLC handles exclusively non-subscriber workplace injury cases. Attorney Warren Armstrong has dedicated his entire legal career to fighting for injured workers against employers who failed to provide safe working conditions, adequate equipment, and proper training. If you suffered a serious lifting injury while working for a non-subscriber employer, we will investigate every factor that contributed to your injury, build a comprehensive case, and fight to recover every dollar you are owed.

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Common Causes of Workplace Lifting Injuries in Texas

Lifting injuries are rarely the result of simple bad luck. In most cases they are the foreseeable outcome of specific employer decisions and workplace conditions. Understanding these causes is essential not only for prevention but for establishing liability in a non-subscriber personal injury claim. Our attorneys regularly identify the following contributing factors:

• Inadequate training that goes beyond telling workers to "lift with their legs" without providing hands-on instruction tailored to the specific tasks and loads they will encounter on the job
• Excessive or awkward load requirements that place unreasonable physical demands on workers without ergonomic controls or load limits in place
• Failure to provide mechanical lifting aids such as pallet jacks, lift tables, conveyor systems, and forklifts that are specifically designed to eliminate or reduce manual lifting hazards
• Broken or out-of-service mechanical aids that force workers to lift manually because the employer has not made timely repairs
• Repetitive lifting without adequate rest breaks, forcing workers to sustain cumulative overexertion throughout an entire shift
• Understaffing and production pressure that compel individual workers to lift more than is safe, more often than is safe, because there are not enough employees to share the physical burden
• Slippery, cluttered, or uneven work surfaces that compromise balance and stability during lifting tasks
• Poor workstation or warehouse layout that requires workers to lift in awkward postures — twisting, reaching overhead, or lifting from floor level repeatedly
• Failure to address known ergonomic hazards reported by workers or identified through injury trends at the facility

Types of Serious Lifting Injuries at Non-Subscriber Workplaces

The initial diagnosis of a "strain" or "sprain" frequently underestimates the true severity and long-term implications of a workplace lifting injury. These injuries involve complex structures of the spine, shoulder, and musculoskeletal system, and their consequences can extend across a working lifetime. Accurately identifying and documenting the full scope of your injury is critical to recovering fair compensation.

Herniated and Bulging Spinal Disc Injuries

The intervertebral discs that cushion the vertebrae of the spine are highly vulnerable to the compressive and torsional forces generated during heavy or awkward lifting. A disc herniation or rupture can cause intense localized back pain, sciatica radiating down the leg, numbness and tingling in the extremities, muscle weakness, and in severe cases, loss of bowel or bladder control. Treatment ranges from physical therapy and epidural injections to spinal fusion surgery, often followed by a lengthy and difficult recovery. Many patients require ongoing pain management and experience permanent limitations in their ability to perform physical work.

Muscle and Ligament Tears

A sudden, forceful lift can tear the muscles, tendons, and ligaments of the lower back, upper back, or shoulder girdle. While minor strains resolve with rest, significant tears cause debilitating pain, severe swelling, and functional loss that requires surgical repair and months of rehabilitation. When these injuries occur in the context of employer negligence — excessive load demands, lack of mechanical aids, or failure to provide training — they form a clear basis for a non-subscriber negligence claim.

Rotator Cuff and Shoulder Injuries

Lifting overhead, jerking a heavy or awkward load, or sustaining repeated shoulder strain can tear one or more of the tendons that form the rotator cuff. A rotator cuff tear produces severe shoulder pain, pronounced weakness, and significant loss of range of motion — often making it impossible to raise the arm above shoulder height. Partial tears may respond to conservative treatment, but complete tears almost always require surgical reconstruction followed by months of physical therapy. Workers in warehousing, retail, manufacturing, and construction across the DFW area are particularly vulnerable to these injuries.

Abdominal and Inguinal Hernias

The extreme intra-abdominal pressure generated during a heavy lift can force tissue or an internal organ through a weakened area in the abdominal wall or groin, producing a hernia. Hernias cause visible bulges, localized pain, and discomfort that worsens with any physical activity. They do not heal without surgical repair, and there is a meaningful risk of recurrence with a return to heavy lifting. When the hernia results from a workplace lifting incident caused by employer negligence, the full cost of treatment, recovery, and any permanent limitation is recoverable in a non-subscriber claim.

Chronic Pain Conditions

An acute workplace lifting injury can be the triggering event for a lasting chronic pain condition. Chronic lower back pain, failed back surgery syndrome, and complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) can develop following disc injuries, nerve damage, or soft tissue trauma sustained during a lifting incident. These conditions require ongoing management — medication, therapy, injections, and sometimes additional surgery — across years or decades, and they frequently prevent a worker from returning to physically demanding employment. Accurately projecting the lifetime cost of a chronic condition is one of the most important elements of a lifting injury damages claim.

Industries Where Lifting Injuries Are Most Common in DFW

Lifting injuries occur wherever manual handling is part of the job, and the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex has a dense concentration of the industries most affected. Workers most at risk include those in:

• Warehouses and distribution centers across Dallas, Irving, Garland, and Arlington, where workers at facilities operated by large retailers and logistics companies perform high-volume, repetitive lifting throughout every shift. We have extensive experience with warehouse accident cases throughout DFW, including incidents at major employers like Amazon distribution centers.
• Retail and big-box stores where stock associates, receiving teams, and floor workers lift heavy merchandise during receiving, stocking, and floor resets under time and production pressure. We handle retail work injury cases across the DFW area.
• Manufacturing and industrial facilities where workers handle raw materials, finished products, and production components as part of assembly, packaging, and shipping operations
• Construction sites across Fort Worth, Plano, and surrounding areas where workers carry lumber, concrete blocks, roofing materials, and equipment without adequate mechanical handling support
• Healthcare and long-term care facilities where patient handling, transfers, and repositioning create significant lifting hazards for nurses, aides, and support staff
• Food service and restaurant operations where receiving, storage, and kitchen work involve repeated lifting of heavy cases and equipment

The Lasting Financial and Physical Consequences of Lifting Injuries

The true cost of a serious workplace lifting injury is measured not just in immediate medical bills but in the trajectory of a working life. Workers who sustain significant spinal, shoulder, or musculoskeletal injuries through employer negligence frequently face:

• Multiple surgical procedures including spinal fusion, disc replacement, rotator cuff reconstruction, or hernia repair, each followed by extended recovery periods
• Months or years of physical therapy, occupational therapy, and pain management treatment
• Permanent restrictions on lifting, bending, and overhead work that prevent a return to the same occupation
• Diminished earning capacity when the physical demands of the injured worker's trade exceed their permanent functional limitations
• Ongoing prescription medication costs for chronic pain management
• Psychological consequences including depression, anxiety, and loss of self-worth tied to the inability to perform the work that defined the worker's identity and provided for their family
• Strain on family relationships and personal life from chronic pain, limited mobility, and financial stress

Because these consequences extend across years and decades, accurately calculating the lifetime value of a lifting injury claim requires expertise in long-term medical cost projection and vocational assessment. Armstrong Law works with qualified medical experts and vocational rehabilitation specialists to ensure every future cost is fully captured in your damages claim.

Steps to Take Immediately After a Workplace Lifting Injury

What you do in the hours and days following a lifting injury can significantly affect both your medical recovery and your ability to pursue full compensation. Your health comes first, but protecting your legal rights must happen in parallel.

• Report the injury to your supervisor in writing as soon as possible, being specific about what you were lifting, how the injury occurred, and the time and location of the incident. Request a copy of the incident report and keep it in your personal records.
• Seek medical attention promptly, even if the pain seems manageable at first. Spinal disc injuries can worsen significantly in the days following the initial incident. Tell your doctor exactly how the injury occurred at work. Prompt medical documentation linking your condition to the workplace incident is the cornerstone of your claim.
• Follow all prescribed medical treatment. Attend every follow-up appointment, complete physical therapy, and take medications as directed. Gaps in treatment can be used by the employer's insurer to argue your injury was not serious or has resolved.
• Document everything. Start a journal recording your pain levels, how the injury affects your ability to sleep, perform household tasks, and carry out daily activities. Photograph the object you were lifting and the work area where the injury occurred if possible.
• Be cautious with communications and social media. Insurance investigators actively monitor injured workers' social media activity for anything that can be used to contradict the claimed severity of injuries.
• Do not give recorded statements to your employer's insurance adjuster and do not sign any documents related to your injury before consulting with an attorney. Early settlement offers from non-subscriber employers are almost always far below the true value of the claim.
• Contact an experienced Texas lifting injury lawyer as soon as you are able to protect your rights and begin the evidence preservation process.

Who Is Liable for Your Lifting Injury?

Identifying every responsible party is a critical step in maximizing your recovery after a workplace lifting injury. Liability may extend beyond the employer to include other parties whose negligence contributed to the incident.

Your Non-Subscriber Employer

If your employer has opted out of the Texas workers' compensation system, they are a non-subscriber. Texas law prevents non-subscriber employers from using defenses like assumption of risk or co-worker fault to limit their liability. You need only establish that the employer's negligence — through inadequate training, failure to provide mechanical aids, excessive load demands, or poor workstation design — contributed to your lifting injury to hold them fully accountable for all resulting damages.

Third-Party Equipment Manufacturers

When a defective mechanical lifting aid, a malfunctioning pallet jack, a broken conveyor system, or other equipment failure forced you into unsafe manual lifting or contributed directly to your injury, the manufacturer of that equipment may be independently liable under Texas product liability law. These claims can run alongside the non-subscriber employer case and increase total recovery.

Third-Party Contractors and Staffing Agencies

Workers placed at a job site through a staffing agency, or working at a facility operated by a third-party employer, may have claims against multiple entities. Third-party liability claims require careful analysis of the employment relationship and site control arrangements, but they can provide additional avenues for compensation that a direct employer claim alone does not cover.

Property Owners

If your lifting injury occurred at a facility your employer does not own, and the property owner's failure to maintain safe surfaces, adequate storage configurations, or proper workstation layout contributed to the injury, they may bear independent liability for the resulting damages.

Understanding Non-Subscriber Claims vs. Workers' Compensation

The legal path available to you after a workplace lifting injury depends entirely on whether your employer participates in the Texas workers' compensation system.

Workers' Compensation Cases

Employers who carry workers' compensation provide medical benefits and partial wage replacement without requiring proof of fault, but they cannot be sued for additional damages. Workers' comp does not compensate for pain and suffering, full lost wages, or the long-term earning capacity loss that a serious spinal or shoulder injury so often produces. Recovery is capped strictly at what the system allows.

Non-Subscriber Cases

Texas is the only state that allows private employers to opt out of workers' compensation entirely. When your employer is a non-subscriber, you have the right to file a full personal injury lawsuit. In non-subscriber cases, you must prove employer negligence, but the damages available are far broader than workers' comp allows. You can recover the complete value of your medical costs, all lost earnings, pain and suffering, mental anguish, permanent disability, and punitive damages when the employer's conduct was grossly negligent. Texas law also strips non-subscriber employers of the defenses that would otherwise shield them from full liability.

Armstrong Law, PLLC handles only non-subscriber workplace injury claims. Our practice is built entirely around this area of Texas law, and we bring that focused expertise to every lifting injury case we handle. Understanding how non-subscriber compensation works is essential to making the right decisions after a serious workplace lifting injury.

Employer Safety Obligations and OSHA Violations

OSHA's ergonomics and material handling standards establish clear employer obligations for workplaces where lifting is a regular job function. Violations of these standards provide direct evidence of employer negligence in a non-subscriber lifting injury claim. Our attorneys regularly identify the following failures in the cases we investigate:

• Failure to conduct ergonomic assessments and implement controls to reduce manual lifting hazards in high-risk work areas
• Absence of a written workplace safety program addressing lifting hazards and load limits for the specific tasks performed at the facility
• Failure to provide mechanical lifting aids where the weight, frequency, or awkwardness of required lifting creates foreseeable injury risk
• Out-of-service mechanical equipment that the employer failed to repair, forcing workers to perform dangerous manual lifting
• Insufficient or entirely absent training on safe lifting techniques, load assessment, and the proper use of available mechanical aids
• Production quotas or supervision practices that effectively pressure workers to skip safe lifting procedures to meet output demands
• Failure to investigate prior lifting injury incidents or near-misses and implement corrective measures to prevent recurrence
• Understaffing that forces individual workers to handle loads that require two or more people or mechanical assistance
• Failure to maintain workplace safety requirements applicable to non-subscriber employers under Texas law

When prior OSHA citations for ergonomic or material handling violations exist, they demonstrate that the employer had direct knowledge of the hazard and chose not to correct it — a foundation for both negligence and punitive damage claims.

How Armstrong Law Investigates Lifting Injury Cases

Non-subscriber lifting injury cases require thorough investigation to establish employer negligence and document the full lifetime cost of the injury. Armstrong Law takes a comprehensive approach to every case from the moment of retention.

Evidence Preservation

We act quickly to document the work area, the specific lifting task involved, and the conditions that contributed to the injury. We issue spoliation letters to the employer requiring preservation of all relevant documents, training records, equipment maintenance logs, and incident reports before anything can be altered or destroyed.

Records Collection

We obtain accident reports, safety training documentation, job task analyses, ergonomic assessment records, equipment maintenance logs, OSHA inspection history, and prior incident reports to build a comprehensive record of the employer's negligence leading up to your injury.

Expert Consultation

We work with ergonomics and occupational safety specialists, orthopedic and spine surgeons, life care planners, and vocational rehabilitation experts to document the cause of the injury, establish employer negligence, and quantify the full lifetime cost of your medical needs and lost earning capacity.

Witness Investigation

We interview coworkers, supervisors, safety managers, and any other witnesses with knowledge of the lifting task, the working conditions, the employer's safety culture, or prior complaints about the same hazards that caused your injury.

Medical Documentation and Future Cost Projection

We coordinate with your treating physicians and retained medical experts to document every current and anticipated future treatment need. Spinal disc injuries and rotator cuff tears frequently require care extending years into the future, and every projected cost must be accurately included in your damages claim to ensure the full value of your recovery.

Compensation Available for Lifting Injury Victims in Texas

Because Armstrong Law handles exclusively non-subscriber cases, our clients are not subject to the benefit caps and restricted recovery that limit workers' compensation claims. A successful lifting injury lawsuit can recover the complete value of your damages.

Economic Damages

• Medical expenses: All past and future costs including emergency treatment, diagnostic imaging, surgery, hospitalization, physical and occupational therapy, pain management, prescription medications, and all projected long-term medical needs related to your lifting injury
• Lost wages: Full compensation for all income, overtime, bonuses, and employment benefits lost from the date of your injury through your recovery and beyond
• Diminished earning capacity: If your lifting injury prevents you from returning to your prior occupation or any comparable physically demanding work, you can recover the full projected difference in earning capacity over your remaining working years
• Vocational rehabilitation: Costs for retraining, career counseling, and job placement services if your physical limitations prevent a return to your previous trade or industry
• Household services: Compensation for household tasks, yard work, childcare contributions, and other domestic activities you can no longer perform as a result of your injuries

Non-Economic Damages

• Pain and suffering: Compensation for the physical pain of your lifting injury, your surgical procedures, and your ongoing recovery and chronic pain management
• Mental anguish: Damages for the depression, anxiety, and psychological toll of living with a chronic injury that limits your ability to work, provide for your family, and participate in the activities that defined your life
• Permanent physical impairment: Damages for lasting restrictions on mobility, strength, and function caused by spinal, shoulder, or musculoskeletal damage
• Loss of enjoyment of life: Compensation for your inability to engage in the physical activities, hobbies, and relationships you previously valued

Punitive Damages

When an employer's conduct reflects gross negligence or conscious disregard for worker safety — such as knowingly maintaining broken mechanical aids, documented repeated failures to provide training, or deliberate production pressure that overrides established safety procedures — Texas law allows the recovery of punitive damages. These damages punish the employer and serve as a deterrent against future conduct that puts workers at risk.

Why You Need an Experienced Texas Lifting Injury Lawyer

Non-subscriber lifting injury cases are more complex than they appear. Employers and their insurers routinely challenge the severity of these injuries, dispute causation by pointing to prior conditions or activities outside of work, and attempt to attribute the injury entirely to the worker's technique rather than to the employer's systemic failures. Without experienced legal representation, injured workers routinely receive far less than their claims are worth.

Non-Subscriber Law Expertise

Our practice is built exclusively around non-subscriber workplace injury claims. We understand the legal standards that apply to these cases, the evidence required to prove employer negligence, and the litigation strategies that produce results against even the largest employers and most experienced insurance defense teams. Navigating a non-subscriber lifting injury claim while managing a serious physical injury requires counsel that knows this area of Texas law inside and out.

Ergonomics and Safety Investigation

Proving that an employer's lifting practices were negligent requires knowledge of occupational ergonomics, OSHA material handling standards, and industry safety norms. We work with qualified ergonomics and safety experts who can demonstrate specifically how the employer's failures created the conditions that caused your injury.

Full Lifetime Damages Valuation

The most consequential error in lifting injury cases is underestimating the long-term cost of the injury. Spinal disc damage and rotator cuff injuries can require decades of ongoing care. We work with life care planners and medical experts to project every future cost accurately, ensuring your settlement or verdict reflects the complete lifetime impact of your injury.

Countering Employer and Insurer Tactics

Insurance companies defending non-subscriber lifting injury claims use experienced defense counsel and aggressive tactics designed to minimize payouts. They will argue that your injury is degenerative rather than traumatic, that you contributed to your own injury through improper technique, or that prior medical history limits your recovery. We anticipate every argument and counter it with thorough preparation and evidence.

Trial-Ready Representation

Warren Armstrong is an experienced trial lawyer who prepares every lifting injury case as if it will go before a jury. That commitment is what drives fair outcomes during settlement negotiations and what ensures our clients have the strongest possible advocate if a fair resolution requires a courtroom.

Contact Our Texas Lifting Injury Lawyers for a Free Consultation

If you or a loved one has suffered a serious lifting injury while working for a non-subscriber employer in Dallas, Fort Worth, Plano, Irving, Garland, Arlington, or anywhere throughout the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex, do not wait to get the legal help you need.

Evidence in lifting injury cases can disappear quickly, medical records must be preserved, and the statute of limitations continues to run from the date of your injury. The sooner you contact Armstrong Law, PLLC, the sooner we can begin building the strongest possible case on your behalf.

We work closely with every client to understand the full scope of how their lifting injury has affected their life — physically, financially, and emotionally — so we can pursue compensation that covers every medical cost, every dollar of lost income, every measure of pain and suffering, and every other damage they are entitled to under Texas law. You pay nothing unless we win your case.

Schedule a Free Consultation

Armstrong Law, PLLC serves lifting injury clients throughout Dallas County, Tarrant County, Collin County, Denton County, and surrounding North Texas communities. We are committed to securing justice and maximum compensation for injured workers and their families.

For a free consultation, please reach out to our Dallas office at (214) 932-1288 for immediate assistance.

You can also complete our online contact form for a prompt response. During your free consultation, we will:

• Review the full details of your lifting accident and your injuries
• Confirm whether your employer is a non-subscriber to workers' compensation
• Explain your legal rights and all options available to you under Texas law
• Assess the potential full value of your lifting injury claim, including long-term damages
• Answer every question you have about the legal process and what to expect
• Provide immediate guidance on protecting your rights and preserving critical evidence

Remember: You pay nothing unless we win your case. Contact us today to begin your path to recovery and justice.