State court limits which employees can sue for workplace injuries

April 8, 2009 by Fred Hosier

Posted in: contractor safety, In this week's e-newsletter, Injuries, Latest News & Views, Workers' comp

A premises owner can’t be sued by an injured employee of a contractor, according to the Texas Supreme Court.

Turbine mechanic John Summers was injured in a 2001 accident while repairing a leak on a hydrogen generator at an Entergy Gulf States plant. (Summers has since died from unrelated causes.)

Entergy’s workers’ comp policy covered Summers’ injuries.

In effect, the Texas Supreme Court has expanded the immunity against lawsuits that direct employers have to also cover contractors.

State legislators say that was not their intent when they passed the most recent workers’ comp law.

The Texas Association of Manufacturers has applauded the decision, saying this ruling helps keep the cost of doing business down.

On the other hand, the Texas AFL-CIO criticized the ruling, calling it judicial activism.

A bill currently under consideration in the Texas legislature would clarify that contractors aren’t included in the immunity from lawsuits because of the availability of workers’ comp insurance.

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Tags: Entergy, sued by injured employee, workers' compensation

Pat McManis

Eric,

It is likely that his lawyer went after everyone’s insurance carrier to see who would cough up “go away” money.

Pat
Terrie J

Did the employee work directly for Entergy or for a company hired by Entergy? If he worked for another company, was his employer a non-subscriber? Was there a contract and if so, what were the insurance terms? Why was the employee suing the owner of the premises?

Texas is one of the few states that does not require an employer to carry worker’s comp. It also has some very squirrelly WC laws in comparison to the rest of the country. This article doesn’t really give enough information to really understand what happened here.
Eric Radke

Why was the contractor covered under the Entergy comp policy rather than his employer’s?
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