Cases

Lower court's granting of Summary Judgment in favor of defendant employer affirmed on appeal based on exclusive remedy provisions of the Florida Workers' Compensation Act.  Allegations in the complaint against the employer stated a cause of action based solely on negligence and not on an intentional tort.  There was no allegation that the employer, knew, based on a prior accident or an explicit warning that the employees were in danger of being injured.  The intentional tort exception to employer immunity did not apply in this instance.

The court also determined that the "unrelated works" exception to the exclusive remedy provisions also did not apply. This exception applies where a fellow employee of the injured worker was the cause of the plaintiff employee's injury.  However, in the complaint filed in this instance, there was no reference to a fellow employee's negligence causing the accident.  The unrelated works exception to an immunity defense is an avoidance that must be pled and proved by the plaintiff.  See Rule 1.100(a), Florida Rules of Civil Procedure.  In this instance, there was no mention of the unrelated works exception until plaintiffs' Joint Memorandum in Opposition to Summary Judgment was filed approximately two years after the answer raising the affirmative defense of employer immunity.