Scott Frost shares his insights from our newsletter:
Nothing humbles a person faster than yanking on a door marked PUSH.
You pull once.
Then harder.
Then with both hands, because now it’s personal.
Turns out the door worked the whole time.
Just not in the direction you chose.
A lot of people hear “contractor” or “not our employee” and run into something similar.
They start thinking:
I wasn’t employed by that company.
I worked for a contractor.
So there’s probably nothing I can do now.
Those thoughts are understandable.
They’re also exactly what some companies hope you believe.
A recent Wisconsin Supreme Court decision reinforced that property owners can still
bear responsibility for unsafe workplaces—even when the harmed worker came from an
outside contractor.
This matters because it’s an issue that comes up more often than people realize.
In many industrial exposure cases, the defense usually sounds like this:
You weren’t our employee.
That wasn’t our responsibility.
Plus, it happened too long ago to matter now.
But responsibility doesn’t always disappear just because a company says, “They
weren’t our employee.”
Sometimes the more important questions are:
Who controlled the worksite?
Who knew the risks?
Who had the ability to make it safer—and didn’t?
That’s why rulings like this matter: they challenge excuses that have lasted too long.
They remind families that paperwork doesn’t always erase responsibility.
And they remind companies that duty doesn’t always end where the payroll does.
— Scott Frost
www.frostlawfirm.com
(866) FROST-WINS
P.S. If someone was exposed on a jobsite, who signed the paycheck may not be the
only question that matters.
And if you ever run into a situation involving asbestos or mesothelioma—especially one
that seems too complicated or too old to pursue—reach out to us. I’m always happy to
help point people in the right direction.
From Exposure to Closure
