Century-old case rescues employee’s lawsuit

Some things just age well, as an employee recently found out after suing for an on-the-job injury. The appeals court said he could sue for personal injuries and that his suit wasn’t barred by workers’ compensation.

The ‘but’ in the law

As readers know, the law is the law, yet there’s always an inevitable “but” in the way it’s applied. First, the law: At the start of the last century, states in our country began enacting workers’ comp laws to help people injured on the job. Here was the bargain:

• Workers injured on the job would receive medical care benefits and replacement income regardless of fault.
• In exchange, they gave up the right to sue for personal injury damages exceeding the statutory benefits.

Now for the “but” part: In 1916, the Texas Supreme Court held the law applied only to “accidental” injuries connected to work. If the injury was intentionally inflicted by the employer, the employee could sue for damages beyond those prescribed by the state’s workers’ comp system. The employee needed to show, however, the employer had a specific intent to harm him.

Fast-forward 100 years

Pedro de la Rosa was a truck driver for an energy exploration company in west Texas. One day, he had worked through the night and (while still in the dark) had to drive his truck on an unpaved dirt road. A large animal darted in front of the vehicle as he was attempting to maneuver around a large pothole.

The result? The truck rolled over, and De la Rosa suffered severe injuries.