Can Injured Subcontractors Sue the Companies that Hired Contractors?

A lawyer with almost 30 years of experience, Claire C. Carr is the vice president and managing partner of Kalbaugh, Pfund & Messersmith, PC, in Richmond, VA. Having defended corporate clients in nearly 75 jury trials, Claire C. Carr is skilled at representing employers and insurance carriers in worker’s compensation cases.

Many people have questions about recourse if they are injured when working for an uninsured contractor. A recent ruling by the Virginia Supreme Court sheds some light on the topic. To establish the liability of an entity, a claimant must show that the contracted work was performed for a statutory employer.

To assign liability to the company that hired the contractors, the claimant must show that the relevant project fell within the trade, business, or occupation of the company, making it a statutory employer. For instance, if a law firm is contracting the construction of a new building, the law firm would not be a statutory employer of subcontractors unless staff members of the law firm were actively directing the construction.

Workers’ Comp Claims Decreases When Medical Marijuana is Legalized

Since 1990, Claire C. Carr has worked as a lawyer for Kalbaugh, Pfund & Messersmith, PC in Richmond, VA. As the vice president, managing partner, and shareholder of the firm, Claire C. Carr handles workers’ compensation defense for insurance carriers and businesses.

Recently, a study performed by researchers at Temple University discovered a surprising link between workers’ compensation claims and access to medical marijuana. According to the review of data from the Annual Social and Economic Supplement to the Current Population Survey from the Census Bureau, workers’ comp claims decreased in areas where medical marijuana was legal. Researchers found that the prevalence of the claims decreased by 6.7 percent once medical marijuana was legalized.

Beyond a decrease in workers’ compensation claims, researchers also noted that the claims decreased in amount. After a state legalized medical marijuana, the dollar amount of workers’ comp claims lowered by about 0.8 percent.

Researchers aren’t entirely sure why these changes occur once legalization happens. However, they believe it has to do with the fact that medical marijuana is capable of managing many symptoms of the injuries that people file claims for. For instance, while the treatment cannot cure chronic pain, it has been tied to a reduction in pain symptoms, thus helping patients better manage the illness or injury that they would have filed a workers’ comp claim for.

Deadline for Giving Notice of an Accident to the Employer in Virginia

Claire C. Carr is vice president and managing partner of the Workers’ Compensation Practice Group of Kalbaugh, Pfund & Messersmith, PC, in Richmond, VA. As a lawyer with nearly 30 years of litigation experience, Claire C. Carr and her team of 9 lawyers, defend employers and insurance carriers in workers’ compensation claims throughout Virginia.

Filing a workers compensation claim in Virginia is impacted by several time limits. One of the most important time considerations is the deadline for notifying the employer of the injury by accident.

The Va. Workers’ Compensation provides that an employee injured on the job must be given written notice of his or her accident to the employer within 30 days of the accident, though an employer’s actual knowledge of an injury obviates the need for formal written notice. Once 30 days have passed since the injury and the employee still has not reported the incident to the employer, the claim may be denied.

If the injured worker provides a reasonable excuse for his or her delay in notifying the employer, and the Commission finds that excuse to be valid, it will next consider whether the employer was prejudiced by the delay in receiving notice of the injury. The burden shifts to the employer to establish how the delay in receiving notice prejudiced it (for example, the worker’s injury may have been less severe had the employer been able to provide medical attention sooner). If the Commission finds the employer was not prejudiced by the delay, the injured worker may be excused for failing to provide timely notice. If the Commission finds the employer has established prejudice, the injured worker will be barred from receiving compensation.

Proposed Changes to First Responders’ Presumption List in Virginia

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Richmond, VA-based insurance defense lawyer Claire C. Carr has been named to Virginia Super Lawyers on multiple occasions and maintains active membership with multiple professional organizations, including the Virginia Workers’ Compensation American Inn of Court and Counsel for Litigation Management. Since 1999, Claire C. Carr has led Kalbaugh, Pfund & Messersmith, PC’s Workers’ Compensation Department. She is particularly adept in occupational diseases.

The Virginia Workers’ Compensation Act lists seven different cancers as occupational diseases for firefighters and other first responders, but one lawmaker has introduced legislation to expand upon that list and remove restrictions for workers. The legislation, which was prefiled by Sen. John Cosgrove (R-Chesapeake) on November 19 and referred to the Virginia Senate Committee on Commerce and Labor, adds brain, colon, and testicular cancers as occupational diseases.

In addition, the legislation removes the requirement that the worker diagnosed with cancer must have been in contact with a toxic substance in order to be compensated. The current law is that first responders are eligible for workers’ compensation under the presumption legislation, provided such presumption isn’t contradicted by competent evidence. The proposed legislation would affect salaried and volunteer firefighters, Department of State Police and Department of Emergency Management frontline workers, and Department of Motor Vehicle Enforcement Division full-time workers with at least 12 years of experience.