A contractor's employee injured on the job by the negligence of a temporary labor service's employee may sue the labor service for his damages the Kentucky Supreme Court recently ruled in Labor Ready, Inc. v. Johnston, No. 2007-SC-419 (June 25, 2009). The court ruled that the exclusive remedy doctrine does not bar the injured worker's claim.
Johnston, an employee of Mid-America Auto Auction, was injured when Hudson, a Labor Ready employee, struck her with a car. Labor Ready regularly supplied workers to Mid-America. Johnston filed and settled a workers' compensation claim with Mid-America. Johnston then sued Labor Ready for the negligence of its employee. The Jefferson Circuit Court dismissed the case as barred by the exclusive remedy doctrine.
The Court affirmed reinstatement of Johnston's negligence claim. First, the court ruled that the workers' compensation exclusive remedy doctrine did not bar the claim. The court traced Kentucky law defining the scope of this doctrine and concluded that it did not apply because a subcontractor is not liable to pay workers' compensation benefits to a contractor's employee. Second, the court ruled that the "loaned employee" doctrine did not apply. Third, the court ruled that the negligence claim was not barred by any indemnity agreement between Mid-America and Labor Ready.
Learn more about your rights under Kentucky workers compensation law here.
