State court limits which employees can sue for workplace injuries
April 8, 2009 by Fred HosierPosted in: In this week's e-newsletter, Injuries, Latest News & Views, Workers' comp, contractor safety
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
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April 9th, 2009 at 6:02 am
[...] Safety News Alert told you how a court ruling expanded a state’s workers’ comp law to give companies immunity from being sued by [...]
April 13th, 2009 at 12:24 pm
Why was the contractor covered under the Entergy comp policy rather than his employer’s?
September 8th, 2009 at 10:35 am
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.
September 8th, 2009 at 11:11 am
Eric,
It is likely that his lawyer went after everyone’s insurance carrier to see who would cough up “go away” money.
Pat