Article ID: 59545b99c5628c05e404b0df2842a4722b06f8e8d1485b76b244c0cf14df219e
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URL: https://www.businessinsurance.com/court-affirms-dismissal-of-lawsuit-following-workers-death/
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Court affirms dismissal of lawsuit following worker’s death - Business Insurance Skip to content Register for free Search Search Log In Risk Management Cyber Risks Pricing Trends Mergers & Acquisitions Technology Sponsored Content WSIA RISKWORLD Workers Comp & Safety Workers Comp Cost Control Pain Management Workplace Safety International EMEA Asia-Pacific Latin America People Events BI Intelligence Top 100 Agents & Brokers Best Places to Work 2025 Lists Directories Insurance Pricing BI Stock Index Magazine Current Issue Past Issues Subscribe Women to Watch ALL INsurance Resources Risk Perspectives Sponsored Content Webinars White Papers Risk Management Cyber Risks Pricing Trends Mergers & Acquisitions Technology Sponsored Content WSIA RISKWORLD Workers Comp & Safety Workers Comp Cost Control Pain Management Workplace Safety International EMEA Asia-Pacific Latin America People Events BI Intelligence Top 100 Agents & Brokers Best Places to Work 2025 Lists Directories Insurance Pricing BI Stock Index Magazine Current Issue Past Issues Subscribe Women to Watch ALL INsurance Resources Risk Perspectives Sponsored Content Webinars White Papers Risk Management Cyber Risks Pricing Trends Mergers & Acquisitions Technology Sponsored Content WSIA RISKWORLD Workers Comp & Safety Workers Comp Cost Control Pain Management Workplace Safety International EMEA Asia-Pacific Latin America People Events BI Intelligence Top 100 Agents & Brokers Best Places to Work 2025 Lists Directories Insurance Pricing BI Stock Index Magazine Current Issue Past Issues Subscribe Women to Watch ALL INsurance Resources Risk Perspectives Sponsored Content Webinars White Papers Risk Management Cyber Risks Pricing Trends Mergers & Acquisitions Technology Sponsored Content WSIA RISKWORLD Workers Comp & Safety Workers Comp Cost Control Pain Management Workplace Safety International EMEA Asia-Pacific Latin America People Events BI Intelligence Top 100 Agents & Brokers Best Places to Work 2025 Lists Directories Insurance Pricing BI Stock Index Magazine Current Issue Past Issues Subscribe Women to Watch ALL INsurance Resources Risk Perspectives Sponsored Content Webinars White Papers Court affirms dismissal of lawsuit following worker’s death by Work Comp Central Regulation , Workers Comp Coverage , Workplace Safety Mar 12, 2026 A Texas appellate court affirmed the dismissal of a lawsuit alleging that the negligence of a contractor and subcontractor resulted in a worker’s death. John Paul Torres was a construction worker for Ten Hagen Excavating who was severely injured in September 2019 while directing vehicles as they entered a construction site. He later died, but the decision does not state whether his death was related to his injuries, according to Christina C. Torres et al. v. Ten Hagen Excavating Inc. et al., published in the Court of Appeals for the 5th District of Texas on Friday. His family sued Ten Hagen for gross negligence and also sued Fairview Construction, the general contractor on the project, for both gross negligence and negligence. Fairview moved for summary judgment, arguing that it owed no duty to Torres because Ten Hagen had the responsibility of ensuring its employees worked safely. Ten Hagen also moved for summary judgment, contending there was no evidence of gross negligence. A trial court granted summary judgment in favor of both the contractor and subcontractor. The Torres family appealed, arguing that Fairview failed to show it lacked actual control or contractual control over Ten Hagen’s work. The appeal court said Fairview’s contract with Ten Hagen included a provision limiting Fairview’s control to ensuring that work complied with the terms of the agreement. While the contract also allowed Fairview to provide labor and materials if Ten Hagen failed to provide enough qualified workers, the provision did not establish control over how the work was performed. A section in the master contract with the site owner requiring Fairview to be responsible for safety precautions was also insufficient to find that the contractor had contractual control over Ten Hagen, because it also allowed Fairview to delegate this responsibility to its subcontractors, which it did in the agreement requiring Ten Hagen to comply with federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration standards. The appellate court was also not persuaded by the family’s argument that the Fairview owner’s testimony was sufficient to show that the contractor did not have actual control over its subcontractor. The Fairview owner testified that the company had no presence at the site on the day of the accident, a claim the family criticized as conclusory. The court found that the testimony showed Fairview could not have had actual control because it was not at the site. The court was similarly unmoved by the argument that an OSHA accident report demonstrated Ten Hagen was grossly negligent. OSHA reported that workers at the site were not wearing high-visibility vests on the day of the accident and that Ten Hagen had purchased reflective vests on previous jobs. OSHA also said Ten Hagen officials were aware that Torres had not been trained on traffic control procedures. While Ten Hagen objected to the admissibility of the OSHA report, the appeals court said the objection was irrelevant because the report didn’t show gross negligence. WorkCompCentral is a sister publication of Business Insurance. More stories here . 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