Zellers

— A property owner hired a licensed contractor to repair a stairway. Several months later, the contractor hired James H. Zellers to help with the work. About a month after that, the contractor’s license expired. Three weeks later, Zellers was injured while working on the owner’s property. When the owner’s workers’ compensation insurance carrier determined that the unlicensed contractor was also unlawfully uninsured, the owner’s carrier paid Zellers’s workers’ compensation claim. Zellers then switched hats, decided he was an independent contractor and not the owner’s employee, and sued the owner for tort damages. The trial court granted the owner’s motion for summary judgment, finding that Zellers’s exclusive remedy was under the Workers’ Compensation Act. We affirm.

Facts

In July 1994, Dennis Neuschwanger (whose contractor’s license was then valid) contracted with Playa Pacifica, Ltd. to repair a stairway at Playa Pacifica’s apartment complex. In early 1995, Neuschwanger hired Zellers to help with the Playa Pacifica job. On February 28, Neuschwanger’s contractor’s license expired. On March 27, Zellers was injured while working for Neuschwanger at the Playa Pacifica…