Kentucky Court Dismantles $22.5 Million Construction Liability Structure
The Kentucky Court of Appeals reversed a construction-liability judgment exceeding $22.5 million, holding that workers’ compensation exclusivity, anti-indemnity law, and participation rights defeated the consent-judgment structure.
Case record
Authority before analysis.
Court
Kentucky Court of Appeals
Docket
Nos. 2024-CA-0287-MR and 2024-CA-0352-MR
Decision
August 28, 2026
Posture
Appeal from a post-trial judgment entered after a nonadversarial bench trial that excluded Scotty’s from participating in the liability phase.
Status
Designated for publication; precedential Kentucky appellate decision; reversed and remanded with instructions to dismiss all claims.
01
What the court did
After a retaining-wall form collapse killed one worker and injured three, the plaintiffs received workers’ compensation benefits and later used a consent judgment and assignment involving project engineers to pursue indemnity against general contractor Scotty’s. The Court of Appeals held that Kentucky’s workers’ compensation exclusivity and up-the-ladder immunity could not be circumvented indirectly, that the construction indemnity provision was void under Kentucky law, and that excluding Scotty’s from the liability proceeding violated its participation, cross-examination, and jury-trial rights. The court ordered dismissal of every claim.
02
Why operators should care
General contractors and subcontractors should review statutory-employer status, anti-indemnity restrictions, insurance obligations, and defense-participation language before an accident. A settlement or assignment cannot create liability that workers’ compensation law prohibits.
03
What remains unresolved
The remand is for dismissal of all claims, although discretionary further review remains possible. The decision does not say that the accident did not occur and does not disturb the workers’ compensation benefits already received.
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