Sinclair's direct employer, ABC Labor, is immune from suit under Washington's worker's compensation law. However, the Washington courts have repeatedly held that worker's compensation immunity does not extend to a general or prime subcontractor.

KC Construction's greatest exposure flows from the fact that Sinclair was not instructed on how to go about dismantling the wall. Sinclair's legal counsel argues that the supervising employer (KC Construction) should have assumed that a temporary employee could not perform even rudimentary carpentry tasks without training and close supervision.

The lesson to be learned from Sinclair's unfortunate accident is that, if a general contractor must utilize temporary unskilled labor, the temporary employee's scope of work should be limited to basic job site maintenance and unskilled tasks. Furthermore, temporary workers should be provided with job site safety instructions and must be supervised more closely than subcontractors and skilled laborers.

General contractors should also be cautious if requested to defend and indemnify a temporary staffing firm. It is advisable to have legal counsel review any documents requiring a general contractor to hold harmless a temporary labor firm in the event of general liability claim. Though many temporary staffing firms will not agree to it, ideally a general contractor should seek to be defended and indemnified by the staffing firm, not vice-versa.