On June 19, 2013, Esther E. Galicia received a favorable opinion in a workers' compensation immunity appeal. In Vallejos v. Lan Cargo S.A., 38 Fla. Law Weekly 1360 (Fla. 3d DCA June 19, 2013), the Third District affirmed a summary judgment entered in favor of our client, the defendant contractor-cargo company. The court found that the claimant, an injured employee of the cargo company’s subcontractor, elected the Workers’ Compensation remedy for his work-related injuries.
The cargo company was also held to be statutorily immune from suit for the injuries the injured claimant, its “statutory employee” sustained. In this regard, the district court concluded that the evidence did not support the application of the very strict and narrow “intentional tort” exception to the exclusivity of the Workers’ Compensation remedy in order to strip the cargo company of its entitlement to Workers’ Compensation immunity.