Court says comp is exclusive remedy for worker injured tedding hay
- May 20, 2025
- Posted by: Web workers
- Category: Workers Comp
A man was working in the course and scope of his employment for a water well drilling company when he was injured in a hay tedding accident on the personal farm of the company’s owner, making workers compensation his exclusive remedy, a Texas appellate court ruled Thursday.
As documented in Glenn Eric Lilly v. Michael Scott Weisinger, filed in the state’s 9th District Court of Appeals, Glenn Eric Lilly admits he was an employee of Weisinger Inc., a water well drilling company in Montgomery County, when he was mangled by a hay tedder in June 2021. And Weisinger Inc. provided evidence showing that its workers compensation insurer accepted Lilly’s claim for some of the injuries he sustained while working at Michael Scott Weisinger’s personal farm.
Though tedding hay is not part of the usual course and scope of business for Weisinger Inc., the term “employee” includes workers who were directed temporarily by the employer to perform one-off services.
“Based on the evidence that Lilly was an employee of Weisinger Inc. at the time of the incident and that he was covered by workers compensation insurance, we conclude that Weisinger established that Lilly’s claims are barred by the exclusive remedies provision,” the court said.
Lilly, in June 2021, was tedding hay with Mason Mathis on a farm owned by Weisinger and his wife. The tedder became clogged, and Mathis turned off the tractor so Lilly could clear the jam. While Lilly was inside the tedder, a machine with rotating arms that uses fast-spinning tines to spread freshly cut alfalfa or grass, Mathis started the tractor, which activated the tedder. Lilly suffered injuries to his legs, back, neck and body.
He sued for $1 million, claiming Weisinger had a nondelegable duty to provide a safe work environment on his hay farm and that Weisinger was vicariously liable for the co-worker who started the tractor while Lilly was performing maintenance.
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