Favorable Court Decision in Wrongful Death Case

On January 16, 2007, AP&S attorneys Bill Burke and Ted Whitesell obtained summary judgment on behalf of a general contractor in a wrongful death action after successfully arguing that the plaintiff’s acceptance of worker’s compensation benefits from the non-employer general contractor operated as a release of all claims against the general contractor under the Massachusetts Worker’s Compensation Act.  Our client was the general contractor for a construction project in Newburyport, MA, and the case arose from an explosion that occured while a subcontractor’s employees were applying flammable waterproofing material to a water cistern at the project.  The subcontractor did not maintain worker’s compensation insurance for its employees.  The estate of the subcontractor’s deceased employee brought a worker’s compensation claim against the general contractor with the Department of Industrial Accidents in addition to filing a lawsuit against the general contractor in the Massachusetts Superior Court.   The plaintiff accepted a lump sum payment in settlement of the worker’s compensation claim.

AP&S subsequently moved for summary judgment in the lawsuit, arguing that the payment of worker’s compensation benefits operated as a release of all claims against the general contractor by operation of Section 23 of the Massachusetts Worker’s Compensation Act (M.G.L. c. 152, sec. 1 et seq.).  In granting summary judgment, Judge Murtagh adopted the position of AP&S, despite a prior Superior Court decision that held to the contrary.  Judge Murtagh ruled that where a general contractor is obligated to pay benefits to the employee of an uninsured subcontractor pursuant to Section 18 of the Act, all claims against the general contractor are released by the plaintiff upon acceptance of the benefits by operation of Section 23.