Manual Labor Exception Doesn't Apply to Independent Contractor's Workers

The Louisiana Supreme Court ruled that employees and contractors working for an independent contractor do not fall within the manual labor exception for entitlement to workers’ compensation benefits. Case: McBride v. Old Republic Insurance Co., No. 2024-C-01519, 06/27/2025, published. Facts: Enable Midstream Partners LP owns a natural gas processing plant in Ringgold, Louisiana. In April 2018, Enable hired White Oak Radiator Service Inc. to replace the amine and glycol coolers at the plant. The agreement between Enable and White Oak provided that White Oak was an independent contracto...