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Liability question: paying someone to blow leaves off roof

Here’s an example of a company that blows leaves etc. off of roofs and out of gutters. You’re hiring the company, not the individuals. And the company is insured.

www.leafreliefguttercleaning.com

Leaf Relief Gutter Cleaning | Gutters and Roofing

www.leafreliefguttercleaning.com www.leafreliefguttercleaning.com

Seems a better bet to me than looking for an undocumented worker on some street corner…?
 
Not my first concern, but don’t let me stand in your way.

Of course a lot of these companies are using undocumented workers, pretty sure.
 
Let’s not let WakeLaw13 distract from the fact that DownEast is like “ah fuck people can be sued for dumb shit these days so I have to be careful hiring someone to literally climb atop my angled roof to perform manual labor”
 
Wakeforest22890 said:
Let’s not let WakeLaw13 distract from the fact that DownEast is like “ah fuck people can be sued for dumb shit these days so I have to be careful hiring someone to literally climb atop my angled roof to perform manual labor”
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See obviously I am ignorant of the law but I don’t understand from a simple perspective of fairness how you become liable for the safety of someone that chose to accept a job like this of their own volition. Nobody is making them go up on the roof.
 
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mako1331 said:
See obviously I am ignorant of the law but I don’t understand from a simple perspective of fairness how you become liable for the safety of someone that chose to accept a job like this if their own volition. Nobody is making them go up on the roof.
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you may not be but if you bring someone into your property to complete work and they get injured on your property, you’re obviously going to be involved in the fallout in some capacity.

It’s not like this is some “man people sue over anything these days” situation lol
 
mako1331 said:
See obviously I am ignorant of the law but I don’t understand from a simple perspective of fairness how you become liable for the safety of someone that chose to accept a job like this if their own volition. Nobody is making them go up on the roof.
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I'm sure there are others more knowledgeable on the law - but I believe for the most part you are not. Unless you are assuming the role of supervisor or are obviously negligent (e.g. fail to mention a safety issue you are aware of). Still doesn't mean someone can't try to sue you.
 
mako1331 said:
See obviously I am ignorant of the law but I don’t understand from a simple perspective of fairness how you become liable for the safety of someone that chose to accept a job like this if their own volition. Nobody is making them go up on the roof.
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You don't become liable simply because someone fell off of your roof and was injured. However, the homeowner has a duty to inform the invitee of any hidden dangers of which the homeowner is aware and which are not obvious to the invitee (in this case, the contractor). As you can imagine, circumstances creating liability in the homeowner are rare. The employer would be responsible for workers' compensation, assuming they are subject to the Workers' Compensation Act by virtue of having 3 or more employees. That's why the term "employer" is important here. The homeowner who hires an independent contractor is not an "employer" and would not be responsible for workers' compensation.

ETA: in some cases, the employee would have both a workers' compensation claim against their employer and a civil claim against another party. That "third party" could be the homeowner for something like not disclosing a hidden danger or maybe the harness malfunctioned and you have a product's liability case.

I'm obviously speaking in general terms and not providing advice to anyone. If you need specific advice, Windy can chime in.
 
ConnorEl said:
Pretty sure if you hire a company of any size that’s insured then their insurance includes workers compensation and will cover their employees injuries, generally.
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Kind of. The WC insurance is going to protect the employing company. It has nothing to do with a 3rd party. So for the most part, the employee can't sue the company - they collect under WC. But it doesn't prevent them from suing a 3rd party.
 
wakelaw13 said:
On one hand, I'm probably the only person here who has tried (and won) multiple cases where someone was severely injured after falling off of a roof. On the other hand, we have your uninformed feelings. I just can't decide.
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who won these multiple cases? The homeowner? The laborer? Some of each? What's the percentage?
 
Bubble Boy said:
Kind of. The WC insurance is going to protect the employing company. It has nothing to do with a 3rd party. So for the most part, the employee can't sue the company - they collect under WC. But it doesn't prevent them from suing a 3rd party.
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OK…still that’s something to help the injured party that’s coming from the company not the homeowner.
 
ConnorEl said:
Yep.

But why not somewhat limit your exposure (?) as well by hiring a company that’s insured rather than a dude off the corner?
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Because the dude on the corner works for like 40 percent of what the insured company would, probably.
 
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