Pennsylvania Superior Court Addresses the Borrowed Servant Doctrine in a Workplace Accident Case (Non-Precedential)

In the Non-Precedential decision in the case of Ortiz v. Lincoln Electric Automation, Inc., No. 1384 EDA 2023 (Pa. Super. June 26, 2024 Panella, J., Nichols, J., and Beck, J.) (Op. by Panella, J.), the Pennsylvania Superior Court confirmed the entry of summary judgment in favor of a Defendant under the borrowed employee doctrine.

According to the Opinion, this matter involved a products liability case arising out of a workplace accident.

The Pennsylvania Superior Court ruled that, as a matter of law, the Plaintiff in this case could not sue the owner of the workplace where she was injured because the Plaintiff was a borrowed employee.

The court noted that, even though the Plaintiff was a temporary employee, her employment activities were under the control of the Defendant, not the temporary agency that had placed her to work at the Defendant’s location. 

Accordingly, the Superior Court agreed that the Plaintiff was the effective employee of the company to which she was temporarily assigned even though she was hired and paid by the temporary employment agency.

Anyone wishing to review a copy of this Non-Precedential decision may click this LINK.


I send thanks to Attorney James M. Beck of the Philadelphia office of the Reed Smith law firm for bringing this case to my attention.

Source of image:  Photo by Emmanuel Ikwuegbu on www.unsplash.com.