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Stephanie Ringbloom, Esq.:
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court issued an unpublished opinion in the case of Yoder v. McCarthy Construction, Inc., et. al., No. 43 EAP 2024, 2025 WL 2981889 (Pa. Oct. 23, 2025). In this decision, the Court confirmed the applicability of the McDonald test for coverage of a subcontractor. The Court noted that “Under the Workers’ Compensation Act (Act), as interpreted by this Court for decades, a general contractor that hires a subcontractor to perform work on a jobsite is deemed an “employer” that is secondarily liable to the injured employee of the subcontractor for the payment of compensation under the Act, provided that the subcontractor—the one primarily liable—fails to make payment.” They cited to Section 302(b) of the Act, 77 P.S. § 462. A general contractor can thereby avail itself of the same tort immunity afforded to the subcontractor by way of this secondary liability.
There are five
elements that must be met under the McDonald test for a general
contractor to qualify as a statutory employer: (1) the existence of a contract
with an owner or one in the position of an owner; (2) occupancy and/or control
of the premises upon which the work is being performed; (3) the existence of a
subcontract with the general contractor; (4) entrustment of part of the general
contractor’s regular business to the subcontractor; and (5) the claimant is an
employee of that subcontractor. The Supreme Court determined that McCarthy
Construction had demonstrated all five elements in the claim filed by Yoder,
thereby granting it statutory immunity for the civil claim that the injured
worker had tried to file against McCarthy.