HBA-MPM H.B. 3120 77(R)    BILL ANALYSIS


Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 3120
By: Ritter
Business & Industry
3/27/2001
Introduced



BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE 

Current law specifies that workers' compensation benefits are the exclusive
remedy of an employee covered by workers' compensation insurance against
the employer or an agent or employee of the employer for work-related
injuries sustained by an employee.  Injured employees must look exclusively
to the insurance carrier for compensation for injuries sustained on the job
and are prohibited from seeking common law remedies from the employer.
Business entities such as parent and subsidiary corporations are currently
omitted from law that specifies which entities are covered under an
employer's workers' compensation policy.  Because of this omission, these
entities may find themselves defendants in a common law suit brought by
injured employees who work for a business unit the entities either own or
control. House Bill 3120 prohibits injured employees from seeking common
law remedies against a parent corporation, subsidiary corporation, or
subsidiary of a parent corporation of an employer that are named insureds
on an employer's policy of worker's compensation insurance. 

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that this bill does
not expressly delegate any additional rulemaking authority to a state
officer, department, agency, or institution. 

ANALYSIS

House Bill 3120 amends the Labor Code to provide that recovery of workers'
compensation benefits is the exclusive remedy of an employee covered by
workers' compensation insurance coverage or a legal beneficiary for the
death of or a work-related injury sustained by the employee against a
parent or subsidiary corporation of the employer or any other subsidiary
that is a named insured on the employer's policy of workers' compensation
insurance or is covered by a certificate of authority to self-insure issued
by the Texas Workers Compensation Commission, or an agent or employee of a
parent corporation or other subsidiary. 

EFFECTIVE DATE

September 1, 2001.