LOIS Partner Declan Gourley prevailed in having seven New York Workers’ Compensation claims, including two death claims, found to be the employees of another employer and therefore the carrier and insured employer that LOIS represents was found to be not liable. The claims were the result of a catastrophic motor vehicle accident in which the Claimants and estates of the Decedents alleged that they were in the course of their employment when involved in a motor vehicle accident on a highway in New York state in the summer of 2021. LOIS’s client was one of the potential employers and its insurance carrier. Following extensive litigation, through successful cross-examination of numerous Claimants and witnesses from multiple potential employers, it was determined that while the claims were compensable, the liable employer was an uninsured employer and therefore liability rested with that employer and the New York State Uninsured Employers’ Fund (UEF).
Declan presented evidence to demonstrate that the Claimants were in fact employees of a different employer, who was a subcontractor of the insured. To complicate matters, the only known representative associated with that uninsured employer had also passed away as a result of the motor vehicle accident and therefore was unavailable to testify or provide any information related to the relationship between the uninsured employer and the insured employer or other potential employers. The defense of the claim was complicated by the fact that there were numerous potential employers, uncooperative witnesses, employers who did not participate in the litigation or produce any documentation, and multiple employers who were intertwined in business relationships with one another with the same owner but different insurance carriers.
Following approximately ten hearings, including multiple extensive trials with witness testimony from numerous parties, the Law Judge ruled favorable for LOIS’s clients that they were neither the liable employer nor the liable carrier. Despite the arguments of the UEF that there was a general-special employment relationship even if the uninsured employer was found to be the proper employer, LOIS successfully overcame this argument by noting that there was nothing more than a typical employer-subcontractor relationship and therefore the sole liability lay with the UEF and the uninsured employer, which the Law Judge agreed. This decision was recently upheld on appeal by the Board Panel with Addison O’Donnell drafting the winning rebuttal brief with brought together all of the favorable facts and case law to argue the Law Judge’s decision must be affirmed.
This is a significant win for the client, as the exposure over the seven compensable claims was certain to be millions of dollars based on the fact there were two deaths of relatively young individuals and several additional claims with significant injuries which will result in lifetime medical care for both physical, psychological, and brain injuries.