Sorenson v. LaTour

Petitioner Sorenson seeks review of a final order of the Workers’ Compensation Board (board). The order classified Sorenson as a “statutory employer” under ORS 656.029(1) and, therefore, accountable for workers’ compensation benefits for a worker injured during the construction of a house on Sorenson’s farm. ORS 656.029(1) creates that type of accountability when a person contracts for “the performance of labor where such labor is a normal and customary part or process of the person’s trade or business” and the contractor for that work fails to obtain workers’ compensation coverage for…