Due To Worker’s Status And Exclusive Remedy, Court Reverses $5.6M Jury Award

A Pennsylvania appellate court has struck down a $5.59 million jury award for a former roofer who suffered catastrophic spinal injuries after falling 20 feet through an unmarked hole in a roof.

The Pennsylvania Superior Court reversed the multi-million-dollar jury award for Jason Yoder because the general contractor on the roofing job qualified as the worker’s statutory employer and was therefore immune from civil suit.

Mr. Yoder was critically injured on Oct. 25, 2016, while working for Warminster, Pennsylvania-based roofing company RRR Contractors Inc., which was subcontracted by Glenolden, Pennsylvania-based McCarthy Construction Inc. on a roof repair job at the Norwood Public Library in Delaware County, Pennsylvania.

Following his injuries, Mr. Yoder sued McCarthy for negligence. A lower judge found that McCarthy failed to qualify as Mr. Yoder’s statutory employer and that Mr. Yoder was an independent contractor.