Could Staffing Agency Employee Sue Food Processing Company Where She Slipped?

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Goshen, NY (WorkersCompensation.com) – Staffing agencies send employees out to work at a host of other company’s facilities. Do those employees become employees of the other companies for purposes of workers’ compensation?

A case involving a staffing agency employee who slipped while working at a food processing facility addresses that question. The agency assigned a worker to work at a food processing facility run by another company. While she worked there, the company that owned the facility, and not the staffing agency, controlled and directed all of her work.

One day, the worker slipped and fell on water in the food preparation area inside the facility and sued the company that owned the facility for damages.

The trial court dismissed the case based on the exclusivity provision of the Workers Compensation Law, and the employee appealed. She argued that she was employed by the staffing agency, not the food service company that owned the facility

New York Workers' Compensation Law sections 11 and 29(6), provide that workers’ compensation is the exclusive remedy for an employee injured at work. Thus, generally, the employee may not sue her employer based on the injuries sustained.

Further, a worker may have more than one employer. A staffing agency worker generally is a “special employee” of the company to which the staffing agency assigns her, if the company controls and directs the manner, details and ultimate result of the employee's work.

Could the employee sue food service company for monetary damages?

A. Yes. The staffing agency hired her. Thus, she was its employee, not the employee of the food service company.

B. No. While she worked at the food service facility, her work was directed and controlled only by the food service company.

If you selected B, you agreed with the court in Miolan v. Milmar Food Group, LLC., No. 2023-00083 (N.Y. App. Div. 07/24/24), which held that the staffing agency employee was also the special employee of the food service company.

The court explained that the determination of whether a worker qualifies as a “special employee” of a particular employer is to be made on the basis of many factors, including whether that employer controls and directs the manner, details and ultimate result of the employee's work.

But in some cases, the court stated, as in this one, where it is undisputed that such control was being exercised, a court may decide without delving into the circumstances.

Here, the food service company established that the worker’s claims were barred by the exclusivity provision. The undisputed evidence demonstrated that the food service company “controlled and directed the manner, details, and ultimate result of the plaintiff's work, and that the [food service company was her] special employer,” the court wrote.

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