When an employer in California hires an independent contractor, what duty, if any, does the hirer owe to the contractor’s employee injured on the job? Generally, when employees of independent contractors are injured in the workplace, their remedy is limited to workers’ compensation. They cannot sue the contractor or the party that hired the contractor. This applies even where the on-the-job injury is allegedly caused by the hirer’s failure to comply with workplace safety requirements concerning the precise subject matter of the contract between the hirer and the independent contractor, the California Supreme Court has ruled, giving Golden State employers a small victory. Seabright Ins. v. US Airways, No. S182508 (Aug. 22, 2011). By hiring the independent contractor, the Court explained, the hirer implicitly delegates to the contractor any tort law duty it owes to the contractor’s employees to ensure the safety of the specific workplace that is the subject of the contract.