An insurer has no duty to indemnify a construction company over a carpenter’s fatal fall because an employee injury exclusion bars coverage, an Illinois appeals court ruled Wednesday.
Ramiro Godinez, a carpenter arriving for his first day at a Waukegan hotel construction project on Sept. 19, 2017, fell more than 20 feet while retrieving tools from a plywood box raised by a forklift. The box landed on him, and he died six days later. His estate sought coverage for a $2.65 million agreed judgment against Stone Development Group Inc., according to Mt. Hawley Insurance Co. v. Stone Development Group, filed in the Illinois Appellate Court, First District.
Mt. Hawley agreed to pay $250,000 toward the judgment while the parties continued litigating whether its general liability and excess policies required indemnification. Stone Development had no workers compensation coverage in effect when the accident occurred.
The estate argued that Mr. Godinez had not become an employee and that the policies’ treatment of the term “employee” was ambiguous. A company executive testified that Mr. Godinez was a prospective hire whom he intended to interview.
The appeals court found sufficient evidence to support the trial court’s determination that Mr. Godinez was an employee. The company had arranged for him to arrive at the site, its foreman directed him to the work area and the executive repeatedly identified him as an employee to federal safety investigators.
The court also upheld the admission of factual findings from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration investigation and rejected the argument that the policy language was ambiguous, affirming judgment for Mt. Hawley.
This article was first published by Business Insurance.
