Bassett Furniture Industries, Inc. v. McReynolds

Robert F. McReynolds (plaintiff), an employee of Industrial Air, Inc. (Industrial), suffered injuries rendering him a paraplegic when he fell through a hole in a floor cut to accommodate a conveyor system Industrial was installing in the Virginia plant of Bassett Furniture Industries, Inc. (Bassett). After receiving workmen’s compensation benefits from Industrial, plaintiff filed a motion for judgment against Bassett. Bassett moved to dismiss on the grounds that plaintiff was its statutory employee and that the trial court, therefore, had no jurisdiction over the tort action. Upon…