With all of the construction cranes pulling up walls, with no windows, for data centers in Loudoun County and Western Fairfax County, one wonders what happens if there is an injury during the construction phase, or once these facilities become operational. If the injury occur during construction phase, to someone involved in the same trade or occupation as the builder of the data center, then they would likely have a viable workers compensation claim under Virginia law. This claim would be limited to medical benefits for treatment that is: reasonable, causally related & by referral, as well as partial wage replacement for a limited period of time. If the injured individual was simply visiting the site, a delivery, person, inspector or other innocent victim on the premises, they may have not only a Worker’s Compensation claim, but also a “third-party liability case.”

In other words, if they can show negligence on the part of a contractor, subcontractor, general contractor, or even the owner of the property, they could take the case to court and potentially have a jury enter a verdict in their favor, for not only their medical bills in the past, but those to be anticipated in the future, their wage loss, physical pain, out-of-pocket expenses, and mental suffering. The injury team at ABRAMS LANDAU has had success representing both construction workers injured on the job, as well as visitors, delivery people, material men, law enforcement and inspectors to the building site.

During the construction phase, witnesses to the injury would likely come from fellow construction crew members, supervisors, other contractors on the site, and possibly passersby. However, once the data center is operational, there are very few people within the facility to witness any sudden accidental injury that may give rise to a Worker’s Compensation, or even a third-party liability claim. These huge data centers have been built all over Loudoun County. The government in Leesburg and in Western Fairfax County hoe to derive significant income from their presence. However, these facilities, with very few personnel necessary to keep them running, will contribute little to local economies, payroll, taxes and patronage at local restaurants, stores, gas stations, etc.

 Across the Commonwealth of Virginia, and throughout the nation, legislators are trying to figure out how to provide enough electricity to feed power, hungry data centers without driving up the electrical rates for residential users. Some electric cooperatives have been petitioning the state for permission to increase rates for large customer such as data centers, according to an article in the December issue of Virginia business magazine. Testimony in front of the Virginia state corporation commission, the state agency with regulatory Authority over electric utilities, indicated that serving additional large load consumers, like data centers, in the future will require significant electric infrastructure. This is, is that as quickly as data centers of being constructed, electrical generation plants and distribution centers also need to be put into place, with the cost of being born by the AI centers that are actually utilizing the energy from the grid.  .

Furthermore, it’s unclear whether there will be surveillance video, interior security guards or First Aid safety training for the few staffers who will be on site. Unwitnessed injuries often result in long delays before medical treatment is rendered, making the likelihood of a bad outcome much higher. Plus, data center injuries will be unwittnessed by live humans, such that testimony may be more complicated and difficult to come by. As the injured victim has the legal “burden of proof,” cases may be lost because the evidence cannot be brought before the court.