§10.13 Indemnity

• Library: Workers' Compensation Law Deskbook Vol. 2 (2020 Ed.)

H. (§10.13) Indemnity

Situations may arise in which a defendant attempts to join the employer as a third-party defendant in a suit filed by the employee. See Womack v. Crescent Metal Products, Inc., 539 S.W.2d 481 (Mo. App. E.D. 1976), for an example of the old practice before comparative fault. The Supreme Court of Missouri has held that § 287.120.1, now RSMo Supp. 2018, limits the liability of the employer to workers’ compensation benefits in third-party actions. State ex rel. Maryland Heights Concrete Contractors, Inc. v. Ferriss, 588 S.W.2d 489 (Mo. banc 1979). This was the first limitation placed on the apportionment theory of Missouri Pacific Railroad Co. v. Whitehead & Kales Co., 566 S.W.2d 466 (Mo. banc 1978). In Lowe v. Norfork & Western Railway Co., 753 S.W.2d 891 (Mo. banc 1988), the Supreme Court further reaffirmed the position it took in Maryland Heights Concrete Contractors, holding that “a defendant against whom a verdict had been rendered had no right to a reduction of the award, or to contribution, because a person insulated from liability by the workers...