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Showing posts from September, 2007

True Value of a Texas Worker

Well, Texas has recently decided that plant owners will be shielded from liability by Worker's Compensation Laws if a contractor gets injured. In Entergy Gulf States Inc. v. John Summers , the Texas Supreme Court held that "a premises owner that "undertakes to procure" work falls within the the Labor Code's definition of a general contractor, for purposes of qualifying for the exclusive-remedy defense." This case marks a sweeping change in the ability of an injured worker to get any meaningful protection from a negligent landowner and ultimately discourages plant owners from making safety changes to reduce injuries in the first place. If there is a silver lining to the 2005 BP explosion in Texas City, it is the fact that it occurred before this ruling came out. A sad day for Texans, but not surprising according to John Eddie Williams, a prominent Texas personal injury lawyer who was quoted in the Houston Chronicle's story today: "The court ruling f