A Florida appeals court on Thursday upheld a ruling that denied workers compensation immunity to a general contractor in a wrongful death lawsuit stemming from the fatal fall of a subcontractor’s part-owner during a university restoration project.
The District Court of Appeal of Florida, Second District, affirmed partial summary judgment against Willis A. Smith Construction, finding the company was not the statutory employer of Phillip Scott Keathley and therefore could not avoid tort liability under the state’s workers compensation law in Willis A. Smith Construction Inc. v. Keathley.
Mr. Keathley, part owner of West Shore Construction, was on the job site at the University of South Florida’s Sarasota campus preparing a bid for hurricane screen installation work on the John C. Williams House restoration project when he fell from a fourth-floor balcony and died, according to the opinion.
His estate, represented by Debra Keathley as personal representative, sued both Willis A. Smith Construction and the university. The contractor argued it was immune from negligence claims because Mr. Keathley was its “statutory employee” under Florida law, which extends workers compensation immunity to contractors that sublet part of their contract work to subcontractors.
The court rejected that argument, finding that while Willis A. Smith had a contract with USF to restore the property, it never actually subcontracted work to West Shore.
West Shore had only accepted an invitation to bid and never submitted a bid, was never hired and performed no contracted work on the project, the court said. Judges found there was no contractual privity, compensation or agreement showing Willis A. Smith had delegated any portion of its obligations to West Shore.