Scope of Statutory Employer Doctrine Reviewed

In the case of Hernandez v. Independence Constructors Corp., No. 1911 EDA 2023 (C.P. Phila. Co. Dec. 19, 2023 Foglietta, J.), the trial court issued a Rule 1925 Opinion in case involving a work-related injury sustained by the Plaintiff in a case where he sued certain entities.

The trial court stated in its Rule 1925 Opinion that its judgment should be affirmed where the Defendant, which subcontracted the Plaintiff’s employer for construction work was not a statutory employer entitled to employer immunity under the Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation Act.

In this regard, the court stated that it had concluded that the Defendant employer did not meet the second prong of the test set out in the case of McDonald v. Levinson Steel Co., 153 A. 424 (Pa. 1930). More specifically, the Defendant employer did not control the job site where the Plaintiff was injured.

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Source: “The Legal Intelligencer Common Pleas Case Alert,” Law.com (March 27, 2024).