Is An Owner Entitled Indemnification If Employee's Accidental Death Does Not Happen Because of Performance of Work ?

In Hershey Foods v. General Electric Service Co., 422 Pa. Super. 143, 619 A.2d 285 (Pa. Super. 1992), appeal denied, 536 Pa. 643, 639 A.2d 29 (1993), the Court held that a plant owner was not entitled to indemnification from an employer for an employee's accidental death because the death did not arise from the performance of work. The service contract between the plant owner and employer was for electrical work and stated that the employer indemnified the plant owner for damages arising out of the performance of electrical work. The employee was killed when the conveyor belt that he was sitting upon started automatically. The accident occurred during his lunch break. Since the employee was not in the process of performing electrical work when the accident occurred, the Court held that the plant owner was not entitled to indemnification.