Who is Liable for a Contracted Labor Injury?
In the event of an injury of contracted labor, could you be held liable?
As many ag operations hire contracted or seasonal labor throughout the year, it’s important to understand the liability that might be left up to the operation in the case of an accident.
For example, the Idaho Supreme Court unanimously ruled that a livestock transportation broker was the statutory employer of a contracted driver injured while attempting to load a cow onto a truck for delivery, says a recent Business Insurance article.
In this case, the dispatcher, Agar Livestock LLC, hires truck owner-operators to haul loads of livestock. Once the load is delivered, a “brokerage fee” is deducted and the remaining funds are remitted to the truck owner-operator. The company, which never employs drivers, was in a “brokerage agreement” and “trailer lease agreement” with Meissen Trucking, the article explains.
When a driver attempted to load cattle into an Agar Livestock trailer, leased by Meissen, a cow charged, shoved him into a gate, trampled him and left him unconscious.
In this situation, who is liable?
The driver filed a workers compensation claim against Meissen, Agar Livestock and others, the article says.
While Meissen argued the driver was an independent contractor and not an employee, the company’s attorney chose to withdraw from the case after pre-hearing dispositions. Later, failure to retain new counsel, the Industrial Commission entered default against the company, determining the driver to be an employee of Meissen.
Further, as Meissen failed to carry workers compensation insurance, the commission found Agar Livestock as liable for the driver’s benefits as his “statutory employer.” The Idaho Supreme Court explains that a statutory employer is liable for compensation to an injured employee of an employer under it if that employer has failed to obtain workers compensation insurance, the article says.
Agar Livestock was found as a category one statutory employer of the driver, contracting services from his employer, Meissen.
While each state might differ in this situation, it might be worth looking into if or how your operation is covered.
