Committee restores narrower manual-labor exception language after contested hearing

House Bill 185 was considered April 22 to address the Louisiana Supreme Courtdecision in McBride that narrowed the manual-labor exception in workers' compensation law. Chief Deputy Attorney General Larry Freeman told the committee the bill intends to "put it back the way it was being applied for many, many years," saying the draft narrowly restores coverage for employees of independent contractors who are substantially engaged in manual labor.

Freeman said the bill was drafted with input from trial-lawyers to avoid unintentionally expanding the definition of independent contractor; he and Paul Michael Bridal (Attorney General's office) said the language removes an expansive reading and aims to target a small subset of workers. "We're just putting it back the way it was prior to McBride," Freeman said.

Attorneys for injured workers — including Steve Wanko, Trey Mustian and Robin Crumholt — testified in opposition, arguing the bill risks leaving people out of the workers' compensation system and that the courts and contracts can already address some situations. They urged an express statutory exclusion or clearer guardrails to prevent misclassification and to protect gig workers who lack employer-sponsored coverage.

After questioning and clarifications, the committee reported House Bill 185 as amended by unanimous consent. Members directed stakeholders to continue working on precise statutory language as the bill moves forward.