Cinnamon v. International Business MacHines Corp.

Senior Justice Poff

delivered the opinion of the Court.

This is an appeal from a judgment dismissing a common-law, personal-injury action on the ground that the plaintiffs exclusive remedy was a claim under the Workers’ Compensation Act. The sole issue is whether, as the trial court ruled, a manufacturer who engaged a general contractor to construct a building for use in the conduct of its business was the statutory employer of a worker hired by a subcontractor engaged by the general contractor to paint the building.

International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) engaged John B. Pike and Son,…