The claimant was a Florida resident working for a California subcontractor under an Ohio general contractor at a New York worksite. Multiple parties attempted to place responsibility on Lois Law Firm’s client by characterizing it as the general contractor, the entity controlling the claimant’s work, a constructive employer, or a general-special employer.
Over more than a year of litigation, LOIS Associate Bradley Haymes and Paralegal Gianna Sorrentino maintained a consistent factual and legal defense. They separated the contractual relationships, work direction, and actual employment functions among the entities and resisted efforts by the other parties and the Uninsured Employers Fund to shift responsibility to the insured.
The New York Workers’ Compensation Board ultimately discharged and removed the client based on the absence of an employer-employee relationship. The result eliminated liability in a complex multi-state construction arrangement and demonstrates the importance of mapping contractual roles, actual supervision, and payroll or employment control before accepting a party’s label for the relationship.
