ABSTRACT
Most state workers' compensation systems are fundamentally a no-fault mechanism through which the employee who incurs work-related injuries and illnesses is compensated with monetary and medical benefits. Although a well established body of law involving the liability of owners and general contractors has evolved along with peculiar risk cases, the theories are often confused or intermingled and, therefore, mask the determinative factor in the analysis. Workers' compensation hearings before an administrative law judge are often informal in comparison to a court of law. The workers' compensation system imposes statutory liability for injuries caused to an injured worker regardless of fault. The court reversed a jury verdict in favor of an injured employee of a subcontractor having concluded that a utility company was improperly held vicariously liable under the peculiar risk doctrine. The general contractor "bore the responsibility of formulating the work plan and the safety program on the project and ensuring that the workers had a safe workplace".
