Employers: Subcontractors

Edmunds v. Liberty Northwest Ins. [2/19/04] 2004 MTWCC 11 Reconciliation of section 39-71-405, MCA (1997), which provides that the employer of an uninsured subcontractor is liable for the industrial injuries of the subcontractor’s employees, with section 39-9-207, MCA (1997), which provides that a “person” employing registered contractors is exempt from workers’ compensation liability, presents difficult questions of statutory interpretation. However, those questions need not be addressed where the contractor registration at issue was on its face “invalid.” Section 39-9-207, MCA, therefore did apply at all and did not shield the general contractor or its insurer from liability.

Conoco, Inc. v. Williams Insulation Co. 2003 MTWCC 15 Pursuant to section 39-71-405, MCA (1999), where a subcontractor fails to provide required Montana workers' compensation coverage for its employers, the contractor hiring the subcontractor, or its insurer, is liable for benefits payable to an employee of the subcontractor who is injured in the course and scope of his employment on the project for which the subcontractor was hired.