Event Worker Injury Liability
Who Is Liable If an Event Worker Gets Injured at Your Event?
Quick Takeaways
- Liability follows the legal employer. W-2 workers: the agency absorbs it. 1099 contractors: it lands on you.
- Workers' comp is the exclusive remedy under W-2 employment — the worker generally cannot sue you in civil court.
- Joint employer doctrine is the trap. Directly supervising agency workers can make you a co-employer.
- A Certificate of Insurance is your most important pre-event document. Require it before day one.
- 1099 injury exposure is open civil tort liability — pain, suffering, and punitive damages with no cap.
Every temporary staffing arrangement starts with a classification decision that determines who is legally responsible if a worker is injured. Two entities are present: the staffing agency and the event organizer. One is the legal employer. One absorbs the liability.
Understanding who that is — before an injury happens — is the foundational question of every event staffing decision.
Three Parties — Three Exposure Profiles
The Venue
Controls the physical environment. Liable for premises defects — unsafe surfaces, inadequate lighting, structural hazards.
Premises liabilityThe Event Organizer
Books the staffing and directs operations. May become a co-employer if they supervise workers directly. Exposure depends on the staffing model.
Variable — model dependentThe Staffing Agency
The legal employer of W-2 workers. Carries workers' comp. Under proper W-2 employment, the agency absorbs primary injury liability.
Absorbs primary liability (W-2)W-2 Employment: Workers' Comp as the Shield
When a staffing agency employs workers as W-2 employees, those workers are covered by workers' compensation insurance. This is the mechanism that resolves most workplace injury scenarios without involving the event organizer.
Workers' compensation is an "exclusive remedy." The worker receives guaranteed benefits — medical treatment, lost wages, rehabilitation — and generally cannot sue the legal employer in civil court. That protection belongs to the staffing agency, not you.
For event organizers: when a properly classified W-2 worker is injured, the agency's workers' comp carrier handles the claim, manages the case, and absorbs the cost. Your involvement is limited to providing an incident report and cooperating with investigation requests.
What "W-2 compliant" means for injury liability
The staffing agency is the employer of record. They carry workers' comp at statutory limits and assume legal responsibility for the worker's welfare on-site. You get the labor — they carry the risk.
1099 Workers: Full Tort Exposure Lands on You
When a platform classifies workers as 1099 independent contractors, those workers fall outside workers' compensation entirely. They retain the full right to sue in civil court — and you, as the hiring party, can be named as a defendant.
Civil tort liability is categorically different. It is not capped. It includes pain and suffering damages. It includes punitive damages. Multi-year litigation is the norm in contested cases.
Workers' Comp Resolves It
Open Civil Court Exposure
Joint Employer Doctrine: When You Become the Employer
Even with a W-2 staffing agency, you can become a co-employer — and co-employers share liability. Courts assess joint employer status based on who directs day-to-day tasks, sets schedules, and has the power to discipline or remove workers.
If your on-site manager is directing agency staff directly — bypassing the agency's team lead — that is a joint employer signal. Keep the agency's team lead as the single operational contact between your management and the workers.
The Safe Supervisory Boundary
You can direct what needs to be done — tasks, timing, quality standards. What creates joint employer risk is directing how workers do it and bypassing the agency supervisor.
The Certificate of Insurance: Non-Negotiable
No staffing agency should place a worker at your event without first providing a Certificate of Insurance. Request it before the contract is finalized. Verify the policy period before the event starts.
What Your COI Must Show
If They Can't Produce a COI, Don't Proceed
Any agency that cannot provide a Certificate of Insurance on request is either uninsured or operating in a way that disqualifies them. A legitimate W-2 staffing agency can produce their COI same-day.
Frequently Asked Questions
Megan brings 14+ years of staffing industry experience to every brief. She has placed nearly 20,000 workers across 2,500+ events through TAG's network of 200+ vetted W-2 agencies across 300+ markets in the US and Canada.
Know Your Exposure Before the Event
TAG places only W-2 workers through 200+ vetted agencies across 300+ markets in the US and Canada. Full workers' comp, proper indemnification, and a 99% fill rate — so the liability question is answered before anyone steps on-site.