Statutory Employee Entitled Workers' Compensation Benefits

DEFINITION OF "CONTRACTOR" CONTROLLED CONTRACT INTERPRETATION

Post 4993

The Eleventh Circuit was asked to resolve who was responsible for a workers' compensation claim filed by Steven Brock, who was injured while driving a truck for Stafford Transport of Michigan, Inc., while Brock, an authorized driver for Kenneth Carver Trucking Company, LLC, was not covered by workers' compensation insurance at the time of his accident. However, Stafford had three insurance policies, including a contingent-liability policy issued by Crum.

In Stafford Transport Of Michigan, Inc., d.b.a CEI, d.b.a. Custom Ecology, Great American Alliance Insurance Company v. Crum & Forster Specialty Insurance Company, No. 24-12058, United States Court of Appeals, Eleventh Circuit (February 4, 2025) the Eleventh Circuit was asked to provide coverage for Mr. Brock who had become a paraplegic as a result of the accident.

The district court ruled in favor of Stafford and Great American, stating that Brock was a covered person under the contingent-liability policy. Crum appealed, arguing that Brock was not a covered person and that exclusions applied.

ANALYSIS

On September 9, 2021, Brock filed a claim against Stafford and Great American before the Georgia State Board of Workers' Compensation seeking payment of workers' compensation benefits as Stafford's statutory employee. Great American demanded that Crum defend Stafford against the claim.

Stafford entered into a consent agreement with Brock stating that he was a statutory employee of Stafford. Crum then confirmed that it would not extend coverage under the contingent-liability policy because Brock was not a covered person under the contract as an "Owner/Operator" or "Contractor" of Stafford and did not have a fully executed contract with Stafford.

A contractor is defined as someone who is a party to a contract or a person or company that agrees to do work or provide goods for another company. And contrary to Crum's argument, the district court was allowed to look at the contract as a whole to determine the reasonable interpretation of that term.

Brock had a covered contract with Stafford through the Kenneth Carver Trucking agreement. The policy states that owner/operators and contractors must "[h]ave a written covered contract with" Stafford. A "Covered Contract means a fully executed contract between a Covered Person" and Stafford. As the Eleventh Circuit explained, a covered person includes owner/operators and contract drivers. And the use of the plural "Covered Person(s)" that "[h]ave a written covered contract," in contrast to the other three requirements, which use singular verbs, means members of the owner/operator and contract driver group can collectively have a single contract, while the other conditions must be satisfied by one individual. So, Brock had a written covered contract with Stafford based on the Kenneth Carver Trucking agreement, even without an individual contract.

The Eleventh Circuit concluded that the district court correctly rejected Crum's argument that the Kenneth Carver Trucking agreement was not fully executed even though Stafford did not sign the agreement. Kenneth Carver Trucking signed the agreement, and Stafford's acceptance could be inferred.

The summary judgment in favor of Stafford and Great American was affirmed.

(c) 2025 Barry Zalma & ClaimSchool, Inc.

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