Court Rules Site of Accident Invokes Exclusivity Rule

A NJ appeals court ruled that a motor vehicle accident cause by a co-worker in the emplyers' parking lot, before work had commenced for the day, limited the injured workers' recovery to workers' compensation benefits.  The "Exclusivity Rule" embodied in the Workers' compensation Act barred a separate cause of action by the injured worker against the co-employee.

"The causal nexus between the accident and plaintiff's employment is manifestly established. It is inconsequential that she, like the plaintiff in Ramos, had arrived early to drink her morning coffee and ease into her workday before performing her work functions. The nexus to plaintiff's employment is more than sufficient here to conclude that the Act provides the exclusive means to compensate her for her injuries."

TAWANNA FLOYD v.CAROL VON NEUDECK, DOCKET NO. A–3855–10T2, Not Reported in A.3d, 2012 WL 2094063 (N.J.Super.A.D.) Decided June 12, 2012.


Related articles

• Federal RICO Claim May Not Be Preempted by a State Workers Compensation Act

  ---

• NJ Supreme Court To Rule on Several Critical Issues

  ---

• OSHA fines Clifton, NJ, stucco contractor more than $108,000 for exposing workers to fall hazards

  ---