La. ‘Manual Labor’ Exception doesn’t Apply to Employees, Contractors of Contractor

Case File

Louisiana's manual labor exception did not apply to bring injured employees of a contractor within the exclusive remedy bar of state workers' compensation law and so the employees could go forward with a negligence action against the principal for injuries they experienced in an explosion. Simply Research subscribers have access to the full text of the decision.

Case

McBride v. Old Republic Ins. Co., No. 2024-C-01519 (La. 06/27/25)

What Happened

The owner of a natural gas processing plant contracted with a company to remove and replace amine and glycol coolers. A welder, who was a contractor for the company, and several employees for the company experienced injuries when a cap blew off a surge tank.

The employees sued the owner and were awarded damages. The owner appealed the trial court's ruling, arguing that the employees' exclusive remedy was under Louisiana workers' compensation law. The appellate court affirmed, prompting the owner to appeal to the Louisiana Supreme Court.

Rule of Law

In Louisiana, an employe who is injured during the course and scope of his employment is entitled to workers' compensation benefits. Generally, independent contractors are expressly excluded from workers' compensation laws and are not entitled to benefits for work-related injuries.

An exception, however, provides that independent contractors who are injured while performing manual labor for a substantial part of their work time are covered by the workers' compensation laws. Correspondingly, a principal for whom the independent contractor performs work is immune from a tort lawsuit.

Workers' Comp 101: The purpose of the manual labor exception was explained in Lushute v. Diesi, 354 So. 2d 179 (La. 1977), which wrote that "the obvious purpose of extending compensation coverage to an independent contractor was to prevent an employer from avoiding liability under the act by contraction with an independent contractor for the execution of work undertaken by the employer which was part of the employer's trade, business, or occupation."

What the Louisiana Supreme Court Said

In a matter of first impression, the Louisiana Supreme Court determined that manual labor exception applied only to an independent contractor who has contracted with a principal to perform work where a substantial part of the work time is manual labor. Where an independent contractor's direct employees have not entered into a contract with the principal, the employees are not the principal's "independent contractors" for purposes of the manual labor exception.

"Accordingly, the employees and independent contractors of an independent contractor are not covered by the manual labor exception and may assert tort claims against a principal," the court wrote.

Thus, the court ruled that the manual labor exception did not apply to the employee's claims and did not afford the owner immunity from their lawsuit as the exclusive remedy bar from state workers' compensation law did not apply.

Verdict: The Louisiana Supreme Court affirmed the trial court's judgment and amended it for purposes of assigning fault in the case.

Takeaway

In Louisiana, neither the independent contractors of an independent contractor nor the employees of an independent contractor fall within the manual labor exception. As a result, an independent contractor's employees and independent contractors are not limited to workers' compensation and may assert tort claims against a tortfeasor.

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