Temp worker can sue special employer over job-site injury: Maine court

A New Hampshire contractor was not immune from a negligence lawsuit filed by a Massachusetts temporary worker who was injured at a Maine job site, the Maine Supreme Judicial Court ruled Tuesday.

In Roberto Valmont-Olivier v. Envirovantage Inc., the high court affirmed a Cumberland County Superior Court order denying Envirovantage’s motion for summary judgment based on workers compensation exclusivity.

Mr. Valmont-Olivier, a Massachusetts resident, was hired in 2020 by Enviro Staffing, a Florida staffing firm authorized to do business in Massachusetts, and assigned to work for Envirovantage at a job site in Portland, Maine. He was injured at the site on June 8, 2020, and later filed and settled a workers compensation claim against Enviro Staffing in Massachusetts, according to the ruling.

He then sued Envirovantage in Maine Superior Court, alleging negligence. Envirovantage argued it was immune from suit under Maine’s Workers’ Compensation Act, which extends civil immunity to employers using temporary staffing services when the staffing agency has secured workers compensation coverage.

The high court held that Massachusetts law, not Maine law, governs the immunity question. Although the injury occurred in Maine, the court said Massachusetts had the greater interest because Mr. Valmont-Olivier lived there, received workers compensation benefits there, and no Maine resident was a party to the case.

Applying Massachusetts law, the court said Envirovantage was not immune because, as a “special employer,” it had not agreed to be liable for carrying workers compensation insurance and paying workers compensation benefits for Mr. Valmont-Olivier. The court said merely paying staffing costs that included workers compensation expenses was not enough to shift that legal responsibility to Envirovantage.