New York: Temporary “Leased” Employee Barred From Suing Borrowing Employer

A temporary worker employed by an agency, who was assigned as a coat checker at the Faculty House of Columbia University, could not maintain a tort action against the university for injuries she sustained when she tripped over a threshold near the Faculty House reception area since she was already receiving workers’ compensation benefits from her direct employer, the agency, held a New York court.  Noting that an employee could be deemed to have more than one employer, the court characterized the plaintiff as a special employee for purposes of workers’ compensation exclusivity.  Such a categorization was a question of fact and the issue typically turned on what sort of right to control was transferred to the borrowing employer.  Evidence had been presented that the injured worker’s activity was under the control of the university, her special employer.  Accordingly, it enjoyed the exclusive remedy defense.

Thomas A. Robinson, J.D., the Feature National Columnist for the LexisNexis Workers’ Compensation eNewsletter, is a leading commentator and expert on the law of workers’ compensation.

LexisNexis Online Subscribers: Citations below link to Lexis Advance. Bracketed citations link to lexis.com.

See Munion v. Trustees of Columbia Univ., 120 A.D.3d 779, 991 N.Y.S.2d 460 (Aug. 27, 2014) [120 A.D.3d 779, 991 N.Y.S.2d 460 (Aug. 27, 2014)]

See generally Larson’s Workers’ Compensation Law, § 111.03 [111.03]

Source: Larson’s Workers’ Compensation Law, the nation’s leading authority on workers’ compensation law.

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