Kentucky: Opioid Dependence Results in Loss of Co-Employee Immunity in Tort Action

A school bus driver was not entitled to rely upon Kentucky’s fellow-immunity rule in a tort action filed against her, since there was sufficient evidence to support the jury’s finding that the defendant driver was voluntarily intoxicated at the time of a serious vehicle accident; her actions were, therefore, outside the scope and course of employment.  Plaintiff, an employee of the school board, was among those seriously injured when, during a school field trip, the bus operated by the defendant driver slowly veered off the road until a point at which the driver overcorrected, causing the bus to overturn. The defendant driver had undergone unrelated back surgery and had been prescribed multiple drugs: Lortab 10’s, along with Klonopin, Gabapentin and Prozac. Medical records showed that in the 14 months prior to the accident, the defendant driver had filled prescriptions for 1,610 opiate pills, including 100 Lortab 10s, just three days before the accident. Plaintiff’s medical expert testified that at the time of the crash, the driver was addicted to Lortab. The expert also testified the opiate medications made the driver susceptible to drowsiness. The driver contended she swerved to avoid a deer. The court agreed that voluntary intoxication removed the driver from the scope and course of her employment.

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.

See Roach v. Wilson, 2017 Ky. App. LEXIS 576 (Oct. 6, 2017)

See generally Larson’s Workers’ Compensation Law, § 111.03.

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