Today's post comes from Paul J. McAndrew, Jr. of the Iowa bar. Paul 's expertise in workers' compensation issues is nationally known and he has bee an zealous advocate for workers' rights.
According to a recent decision by the
Texas Supreme Court, a temporary employee cannot be excluded from an employers’ workers’ compensation policy.
In 2005, Rafael Casados was killed on his third day at work at a grain storage facility owned by Port Elevator-Brownsville L.L.C.
Because Casados was a temporary employee of Port Elevator at the time of his death, he was initially awarded a liability ruling of $2.7 million directly from Port Elevator.
However, according to the latest Supreme Court ruling, Casados’s family should receive remedy under Port Elevator’s workers’ compensation policy instead. Port Elevator’s insurance provider is liable for Casados’s death benefits, despite the fact that Port Elevator never paid workers’ compensation insurance for any of their temporary employees.
According to the decision: “If Port Elevator’s policy had set out certain premiums solely for temporary workers and Port Elevator had not paid those premiums, Casados would still have been covered under the policy and the failure to pay premiums would be an issue between Port Elevator (their insurance provider).”
Photo Credit:
sixninepixels / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
