DENNIS DEMPSEY AND NORMA DEMPSEY, HIS WIFE, APPELLANTS,
v.
G & E CONSTRUCTION COMPANY, APPELLEE
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An injured worker sued a subcontractor for negligence after being injured while working for a sub-subcontractor. The court held that the subcontractor is immune from tort liability under Florida's worker's compensation statute because it has the commensurate duty to provide worker's compensation benefits to the sub-subcontractor's employees.
A subcontractor is immune from tort liability to employees of its sub-subcontractors because the subcontractor has the commensurate duty to secure worker's compensation benefits for those employees under section 440.10(1), Florida Statutes.
[1] A subcontractor is immune from tort liability to the employee of its sub-subcontractor when the subcontractor is obligated to provide workers' compensation benefits to th…
[2] A contractor who sublets part of its contract work is liable for and must secure workers' compensation benefits for employees of its subcontractors.
Previewing 2 of 5 headnotes on this case. FLexlaw’s editorially structured points of law — every proposition, pinpointed — are reserved for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“A subcontractor is not liable for the payment of compensation to the employees of another subcontractor on such contract work and is not protected by the exclusiveness of liability provisions of s. 440.11 from action at law or in admiralty on account of injury of such employee of another subcontractor.”
Statutory language from section 440.10(1) addressing the scope of subcontractor immunity, which the appellant argued supported his position but which the court interpreted narrowly.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceDempsey was injured while performing steel structural work for Dixie Steel. Dixie Steel was a sub-subcontractor hired by G & E Construction Company, w…
The full statement of facts, procedural history, and disposition for this case are member content.
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WARNER, Judge.
An injured worker appeals a final summary judgment in favor of a subcontractor whom the trial court found was immune from suit because of the exclusive liability of the worker’s compensation statute. The question presented is whether a subcontractor is immune from tort liability to the employee of its sub-subcontractor. We hold that it is and affirm the summary judgment.
The facts in this case are not in dispute. Appellant, Dempsey, was injured on a job while performing work for Dixie Steel. The general contractor on the job contracted with appellee G & E Construction Company to do structural work on the construction site. G & E then sub-subcontracted with Dixie Steel, appellant’s employer, to do a portion of the steel structural work. Appellant was injured in the course of doing this work due to the alleged negligence of G & E. Appellant received worker’s compensation benefits from Dixie Steel and then filed suit against G & E for its negligence.
Section 440.10(1), Florida Statutes (1987), provides:
In case a contractor sublets any part or parts of his contract work to a subcontractor or subcontractors, all of the employees of such contractor and subcontractor or subcontractors engaged on such contract work shall be deemed to be employed in one and the same business or establishment; and the contractor shall be liable for, and shall secure, the payment of compensation to all such employees, except to the employees of a subcontractor who has secured such payment. A subcontractor is not liable for the payment of compensation to the employees of another subcontractor on such contract work and is not protected by the exclusiveness of liability provisions ofs. 4^0.11 from action at law or in admiralty on account of injury of such employee of another subcontractor. (Emphasis added.)
Appellant contends that the 1974 amendment to this section which added the language underlined above precludes the subcontractor’s immunity in this suit. He claims that Abernathy v. Employers Ins. of Wausau, 428 So. 2d 272 (Fla. 2d DCA 1982), adopted and affirmed in Employers Ins. of Wausau v. Abernathy, 442 So. 2d 953 (Fla.1983) supports this position. However, Abernathy addressed a different employment relationship. In Abernathy the employee of a general contractor attempted to sue the subcontractor for negligence. The supreme court held that such a suit was allowed under section 440.10, Florida Statutes (1983), as amended because the subcontractor had no duty to provide worker’s compensation benefits to the employee of the general contractor. Thus, because the duty to provide compensation benefits did not exist, there was no quid pro quo to supplant tort liability.
In the instant case the subcontractor is obligated to provide worker’s compensation benefits to the employees of its sub-subcontractor as a “contractor [who] sublets any part or parts of his contract work.” § 440.10(1), Fla.Stat. (1987). In Fidelity Construction Co. v. Arthur J. Collins & Sons, Inc., 130 So. 2d 612 (Fla.1961), the supreme court held that this statutory language included a subcontractor who sublet a portion of his contract work to a sub-subcontractor. The 1974 amendment does not change this result. Thus this case is one in which the subcontractor obtains immunity because it has the commensurate liability to secure compensation to the employees of the sub-subcontractors to whom it has sublet part of its contract work. Abernathy, 428 So. 2d 272; Jones v. Florida Power Corp., 72 So. 2d 285 (Fla.1954); Fidelity Construction Co. v. Arthur J. Collins & Sons, Inc., 130 So. 2d 612.
We therefore hold that section 440.11, Florida Statutes (1987), entitles a subcontractor to immunity from actions at law for negligence brought by employees of sub-subcontractors because of the liability of the subcontractor to provide worker’s compensation benefits under section 440.10(1), Florida Statutes (1987), to the employees of its sub-subcontractor. Affirmed.
HERSEY, C.J., and LETTS, J., concur.
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Citator
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Mena v. J.I.L. Constr. Grp. Corp., 79 So. 3d 219 (Fla. 4th DCA 2012)…king.” Roberts v. Gator Freightways, Inc., 538 So. 2d 55, 60 (Fla. 1st DCA 1989). The scheme set forth in section 440.10(l)(b) applies to a subcontractor-subsubcontractor relationship as well, like the one in this case. Dempsey v. G & E Constr. Co., 556 So. 2d 426, 427 (Fla. 4th DCA 1989). J.I.L. procured a policy of worker’s compensation insurance that was in effect for the date of Mena’s accident. Slorp verified that J.I.L. had coverage. Slorp was Mena’s statutory employer because it owed a contractual obl…
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Latite Roofing & Sheet Metal Co., Inc. v. Barker, 886 So. 2d 1064 (Fla. 4th DCA 2004)…ys an independent contractor to perform part or all of its contractual undertaking.” Roberts v. Gator Freightways, Inc., 538 So. 2d 55, 60 (Fla. 1st DCA 1989). Latite Roofing argues that this case is controlled by Dempsey v. G & E Construction Co., 556 So. 2d 426 (Fla. 4th DCA 1989). In Dempsey, this court held that a subcontractor was immune from suit brought by an employee of its sub-subcontractor. Id. at 427. There, the general contractor subcontracted with G & E to perform structural work on a constructi…
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Villalta v. Cornn Int'l, Inc., 110 So. 3d 952 (Fla. 1st DCA 2013)…it granted by section 440.11(1), Florida Statutes. See Mena v. J.I.L. Construction Group, 79 So. 3d 219 (Fla. 4th DCA 2012); Latite Roofing & Sheet Metal Co. v. Barker, 886 So. 2d 1064 (Fla. 4th DCA 2004); see also Dempsey v. G & E Construction Co., 556 So. 2d 426 (Fla. 4th DCA 1989). While engaged in the drywall employment as described above, Mr. Villalta fell from a scaffold and sustained fatal injuries. The appellant filed a civil suit for damages naming several defendants, including Cornn International…
Previewing 3 of 4 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- Jones v. Fla. Power Corp., 72 So. 2d 285 (Fla. 1954)
- Emp'rs Ins. OF Wausau v. Abernathy, 442 So. 2d 953 (Fla. 1983)
- Fid. Constr. Co. & S. Indem. Ins. Co. v. Arthur J. Collins & SON, Inc., 130 So. 2d 612 (Fla. 1961)
- Abernathy v. Emp'rs Ins. OF Wausau, 428 So. 2d 272 (Fla. 2d DCA 1982)