Opinion ID: 1891845
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: liability of owner for injuries to employees of independent contractor.

Text: The Court of Appeals' reliance on Simmons v. Clark Constr. Co., 426 S.W.2d 930 (Ky.1968), Jennings v. Vincent's Adm'x, 284 Ky. 614, 145 S.W.2d 537 (1940), and Clemons v. Browning, 715 S.W.2d 245 (Ky. App.1986), for its holding that Commonwealth is not liable for Appellant's damages because the work performed by Intech was neither a nuisance nor inherently dangerous was misplaced. Those cases apply only when it is sought to hold an owner vicariously liable for the negligence of an independent contractor. Jennings, 145 S.W.2d at 541. In both Simmons and Clemons , employees of subcontractors were injured because of defective scaffolding erected not by the owner but by the independent general contractor. Simmons, 426 S.W.2d at 931; Clemons, 715 S.W.2d at 246. The fatal explosion in Jennings was caused by the negligence of employees of the independent contractor, not the owner. Jennings, 145 S.W.2d at 539. Here, Commonwealth was not held vicariously liable because of the negligence of Intech's employees. It was held directly liable because of its own negligence. In holding that the liability of the owner to the employees of an independent contractor is limited to payment of workers' compensation benefits, the Court of Appeals relied on language in King v. Shelby Rural Elec. Coop. Corp., 502 S.W.2d 659 (Ky.1973), which, if taken out of context, would seem to support that position, viz : We can see no reason why appellant, simply because he was an employee of an independent contractor, should be placed in a better position than if he had been an employee of Shelby [owner], in which case his recovery would be limited without question to the benefits provided by the Workmen's Compensation Act. Conversely, we see no valid reason why Shelby should be subjected to more liability simply because it engaged the services of a qualified independent contractor. Id. at 663. However, King , like Simmons , Jennings , and Clemons , was a case in which an employee of an independent contractor sought to hold the owner vicariously liable for injuries caused by the contractor's negligence: The evidence in the case on behalf of Shelby indicated that it did not exercise any control whatever over the work involved and did not consider itself to have the right of [sic] the duty to do so. . . . [T]he liability of Shelby for the negligence of the independent contractor does not extend to the employees of the independent contractor. King, 502 S.W.2d at 664. As subsequently explained in Caskey v. Hammonds Construction, Inc., 536 S.W.2d 449 (Ky.1976), [t]he opinion [in King ] does not hold that an employee of an independent contractor may not recover from the owner in those instances where the negligence of the owner causes the injury or death of the employee of the independent contractor. Id. at 451. Caskey held that an owner is liable for injuries sustained by an employee of its independent contractor that were caused by the owner's own negligence. Id. Workers' compensation coverage is a voluntary contract between employer and employee, the terms of which are defined by the provisions of the Act. McNeese Const. Co. v. Harris, 273 S.W.2d 355, 357 (Ky.1954). The employer gives up the right to claim certain defenses, KRS 342.610(1), in exchange for the employee's agreement to accept limited benefits in lieu of damages at law, KRS 342.690(1). It is the voluntary nature of this statutory contract that renders the Act constitutional. See generally Greene v. Caldwell, 170 Ky. 571, 186 S.W. 648 (1916) (upholding constitutionality of 1916 Kentucky Workmen's Compensation Act and distinguishing State Journal Co. v. Workmen's Comp. Bd., 161 Ky. 562, 170 S.W. 1166 (1914), which had held the mandatory 1914 Act unconstitutional). The Court of Appeals' interpretation of the quoted language in King would give an independently negligent nonparty to this statutory contract the same advantages otherwise afforded only to the injured party's employer. [5] The trial court properly held Commonwealth liable for damages incurred by Appellant because of Commonwealth's own negligence.