Court Rules Owner Controlled Insurance Program Client Not Liable for Occupational Disease

In this complex occupational disease claim arising from the claimant’s work in construction, we were successful in defending the claim against our client (who held a wrap-up policy) before the New York Workers’ Compensation Board and arguing for liability to be imposed on a different employer/carrier. The claimant had worked for several different employers in the period leading up to his work stoppage and three different carriers, including our client, we placed on notice regarding potential liability. We took extensive testimony of the claimant and subpoenaed copious medical records before the Law Judge found our client was not liable on the claim. Our argument was two-pronged: 1) that our client was not the employer during the last injurious exposure; 2) that as the holder of a wrap-up policy, our client should not be found liable on an occupational disease claim, which should impose liability on the holder of the operational policy.