News Notes: Independent Contractor’s Employee Can Sue If You Provide Unsafe Equipment

According to a recent California Court of Appeal decision involving Wal-Mart, you can be sued by an independent contractor’s employee if you supply equipment that’s involved in an accident injuring the worker. Wal-Mart had hired Musi-Cal to install a sound system in the retailer’s Chino, Calif., store. The work involved placing speakers and running wires on the store’s ceilings. Wal-Mart let a Musi-Cal employee use its forklift, and the worker was injured when he fell off the lift. Musi-Cal’s responsibility was limited to providing workers’ compensation benefits. But the court said the employee could sue Wal-Mart for negligence because it provided allegedly unsafe equipment for use by the contractor’s workers.