Oregon: Injured Worker’s Suit Against Employer’s Landlord/Officers is Unsuccessful

Acknowledging that the 2013 amendment to the so-called “dual capacity” provision of the Oregon Workers’ Compensation Act [Or. Rev. Stat. § 656.018(3)] had narrowed somewhat the immunity enjoyed by officers and directors of the employing corporation, an appellate court held, however, that the exception remained quite narrow and, in the instant case, the injured worker could not maintain a civil action against officers of the employer merely on the basis that they were owners of the work premises, leasing it to the employer. Quoting Larson's Workers' Compensation Law, the appellate court agreed with the trial court's determination that the plaintiff here had not identified precisely what actions the officer/landlords took or failed to take as landlordsthat were separate and apart from acts or omissions in their capacity as officers and directors of the employer corporation.

Thomas A. Robinson, J.D., the Feature National Columnist for the LexisNexis Workers’ Compensation eNewsletter, is co-author of Larson’s Workers’ Compensation Law (LexisNexis).

LexisNexis Online Subscribers: Citations below link to Lexis Advance.

See Nancy Doty, Inc. v. WildCat Haven, Inc., 2019 Ore. App. LEXIS 533 (Apr. 17, 2019)

See generally Larson’s Workers’ Compensation Law, § 113.02

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

For a more detailed discussion of the case, see