The Texas Supreme Court has not acted as a friend to the valiant men who work oil and gas rigs. Instead, it seems to favor the wealthy oil companies which hire these workers and place them in harm’s way.

How’s that true? It’s true because of a 2007 court decision known as Entergy Gulf States, Inc. v. Summers, NO. 05-0272.
That decision lets oil companies construe themselves as not just owners of rigs and sites, but also as general contractors, despite the fact that a large part of their work is farmed out to such contractors. This means injured workers must rely on no-fault workers’ compensation insurance and can’t sue an employer with general contractor status.

So when a hard-working oilfield employee loses an arm or a leg or is killed, he or his survivors are largely unprotected. Meanwhile, the oil companies which benefit from such workers’ labor keep getting richer.

Other than fat cat oil companies, who agrees with this?

Not legislators and labor activists, who argue that the court essentially ignored legislative intent and rewrote the Texas Labor Code and its relation to the Texas Workers’ Compensation Act.

Not the Texas Trial Lawyers Association, which questioned how the code was interpreted.

Heck, not even the Texas Association of Defense Counsel agrees. It wrote a brief to the court outlining its objections, including its assertion that the court had written its own definition of “general contractor,” which should be a legislative matter.

In the Entergy case, that company had hired IMC to handle construction and maintenance on an Entergy plant in Sabine, TX. When an IMC-hired worker was injured, he sued Entergy, the site’s owner, for negligence in the accident.

Entergy claimed that its contract with IMC made Entergy the general contractor and thus the IMC worker’s employer. And since Entergy had purchased no-fault workers compensation insurance, it was shielded from a lawsuit by the exclusive remedy defense of the Texas Labor Code.

The Texas Supreme Court bought it, in effect changing a law which was designed to protect workers and turning it against them.

Suddenly, the owner of a site or premises is considered a general contractor. That is, the owner is considered to be in contract with itself. At least, that’s how the Texas Supreme Court sees it.

Now ask yourself: Without legal penalties, what motivates employers to do the right thing and make workplaces safe?

Clearly, one potent motivation is the threat of lawsuits. When that threat is reduced or removed, bottom-line employers can disregard safety standards and accept workplace injuries and fatalities as collateral damage — as just part of doing daily business.

But for rig workers, there’s hope. Legislators are trying to offset or reverse the court’s ruling, and litigators still can tackle negligent operators of oil rigs via what’s known as third party lawsuits. These can target a non-employer such as a manufacturer or subcontractor whose negligence led to an accident injury, in whole or in part.

Yes, it’s an imperfect world. But the fight for what’s right is worth winning. And if you or a loved one has suffered an oil rig accident injury, turn to longtime Texas personal injury law firm Jim S. Adler & Associates and explore your options for financial recovery.

One bad court decision shouldn’t compromise what you and your family need — or prevent Jim “the Texas Hammer” Adler from fighting for you and what’s right.

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