Santa Cruz Poultry, Inc. v. Superior Court

A temporary employee furnished by Manpower, Inc., was injured on a one-day job assignment to the business Santa Cruz Poultry, Inc. The employee, Stier, sued Santa Cruz Poultry (SCP) for damages for his injuries, and SCP, by motion for summary judgment, asserted exclusivity of Stier’s workers’ compensation remedy. The trial court denied summary judgment, and SCP seeks statutory mandate under Code of Civil Procedure section 437c, subdivision (J). The issue is whether a temporary employee who finds work through the services of an agency such as Manpower, Inc., may bring a negligence action for industrial injuries received on the job against the employer to whom he is assigned, or whether he is relegated to a claim for workers’ compensation under the provisions of Labor Code section 3601. We have concluded where the employer has supervision and control over the employee’s job duties, as here, then the employee is in a special employment relationship with that employer. Under such circumstances the exclusive remedy for job-related injuries is workers’ compensation. Accordingly we will issue a writ of mandate compelling summary judgment in favor of the employer,…