The Pennsylvania Superior Court reversed a $5.5 million jury award after finding the defendant qualified as the plaintiff’s statutory employer and was therefore immune from tort liability. 

In a Jan. 31 opinion in Yoder v. McCarthy Construction, a unanimous three-judge panel of the appeals court overturned the Philadelphia jury’s $5,590,650 award to plaintiff Jason Yoder, who was injured while working on a job site. Defendant McCarthy Construction had appealed the verdict, asking the court to determine whether it qualified as Yoder’s statutory employer under the Workers’ Compensation Act, which would thus make McCarthy immune from the suit.