Oh boy! When it comes to workers compensation immunity, suppliers, particularly rental equipment suppliers, better watch out as they are not entitled to the same safeguards as subcontractors when it comes to injuries on a construction project!
The Fourth District Court of Appeals in Ciceron v. Sunbelt Rentals, Inc., 40 Fla. L. Weekly D897a (Fla. 4th DCA 2015) rendered an opinion that is not favorable to suppliers when it comes to the protection of workers compensation immunity on a construction project. In this case, an employee of the demolition subcontractor was injured from a scissor list that was utilized and rented by other subcontractors at the project. The employee sued the rental equipment supplier of the scissor list for negligence. The supplier moved for summary judgment arguing that it has immunity from such tort claims. The ultimate issue was whether workers compensation horizontal immunity barred the injured employee’s claim against the rental equipment supplier.
Horizontal Workers Compensation Immunity
I have previously written about workers compensation immunity on a construction project. Regarding what is commonly referred to as horizontal immunity: “Workers’ compensation immunity has been broadly expanded by the legislature to include subcontractors and sub-subcontractors working at a construction site, precluding an employee of one contracting entity injured on the job from suing another contracting entity working at the same construction site in tort.” Ciceron, supra.
To this point, Florida Statute s. 440.10(1)(e) states:
A subcontractor providing services in conjunction with a contractor on the same project or contract work is not liable for the payment of compensation to the employees of another subcontractor or the contractor on such contract work and is protected by the exclusiveness-of-liability provisions of s. 440.11 from any action at law or in admiralty on account of injury to an employee of another subcontractor, or of the contractor, provided that:
1. The subcontractor has secured workers’ compensation insurance for its employees or the contractor has secured such insurance on behalf of the subcontractor and its employees in accordance with paragraph (b); and
2. The subcontractor’s own gross negligence was not the major contributing cause of the injury.
This is referred to as horizontal immunity because one subcontractor is entitled to immunity for injuries caused to employees of another subcontractor.
In this case, however, because the supplier of the scissor list was not a “subcontractor,” the supplier was NOT entitled to immunity. This meant that the injured demolition subcontractor’s employee was entitled to pursue its negligence claim against the supplier of the scissor lift and the supplier did not have immunity under the law. If, on the other hand, the supplier was a “subcontractor,” then more than likely workers compensation horizontal immunity would have applied to bar the injured employee’s tort claim.
Please contact David Adelstein at dadelstein@gmail.com or (954) 361-4720 if you have questions or would like more information regarding this article. You can follow David Adelstein on Twitter @DavidAdelstein1.