New York: Injured Employee’s Negligence Action Against Co-Employee and Co-Employee’s Father (as Owner of Vehicle) Are Barred by Exclusiveness

A civil action was filed by plaintiff and his spouse against plaintiff’s co-employee and the co-employee’s father for injuries the plaintiff sustained when he was struck by a car driven by the co-employee as plaintiff walked across their employer’s parking lot after checking out for the day. The co-employee had driven his father’s car to work, had clocked in, and then returned to his car in order that he could wait for a parking space to open up during the employer’s shift change. The trial court granted the defendants motion for summary judgment on the ground that the action was barred by the exclusive remedy provisions of the New York Workers’ Compensation Law. Plaintiff acknowledged that had received workers’ compensation benefits for the injuries he sustained. The appellate court said plaintiff had failed to raise a triable issue. Both plaintiff and the co-employee were acting within the course and scope of their employment. Plaintiff could not maintain the civil action against the co-employee’s father (as owner of the vehicle) since the co-employee defendant was immune from direct liability.

Thomas A. Robinson, J.D., the Feature National Columnist for the LexisNexis Workers’ Compensation eNewsletter, is the co-author of Larson’s Workers’ Compensation Law (LexisNexis).

LexisNexis Online Subscribers: Citations below link to Lexis Advance. Bracketed citations link to lexis.com.

See Power v. Frasier, 2015 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 6292 (2nd Dep’t, Aug. 5, 2015) [2015 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 6292 (2nd Dep’t, Aug. 5, 2015)]

See generally Larson’s Workers’ Compensation Law, § 111.03 [111.03]

Source: Larson’s Workers’ Compensation Law, the nation’s leading authority on workers’ compensation law.

For more information about LexisNexis products and solutions connect with us through our corporate site