Florida Workers Compensation Law Bars Sexual Assault Lawsuit
The workers' compensation exclusive remedy doctrine bars common law causes of action for negligent hiring, retention, and supervision and for assault, battery, and rape arising out of the alleged sexual assault of a minor employee by a supervisor, according to Florida's Second District Court of Appeals in a recent decision, John Doe and Jane Doe v. Footstar Corporation.
Joel Cooper and the plaintiffs' daughter worked at the same Footstar retail outlet, Cooper as a store manager and the daughter as a sales clerk. The plaintiffs sued Cooper and Footstar Corporation, claiming that he had assaulted and sexually battered their daughter in the course and scope of his employment with Footstar, and that Footstar had negligently hired, retained, supervised, and trained Cooper. The trial court entered a final judgment on the pleadings in favor of Footstar on the basis that the workers' compensation law barred the plaintiffs' claims.
The Second District Court of Appeals affirmed the dismissal, holding that "[t]here is no
exception to the exclusive remedy of the Florida workers' compensation law and this Court cannot create one under the facts of this case, as reprehensible as the conduct alleged by Plaintiffs appears to have been and as harsh as this result seems to be."
The Footstar decision does not mean that sexual harassment claims are barred by the workers' compensation law. As the court in Footstar noted, the Florida Supreme Court ruled in Byrd v. Richardson Greenshield Securities (1989) that sexual harassment claims, and common law claims arising from sexual harassment, are not barred.
So why were the common law claims in Footstar barred? That's not entirely clear from the opinion, but my guess is that the claims were not related to sexual harassment. In other words, the relationship between Cooper and the employee was most likely consensual, and a consensual relationship (even one involving a minor) cannot form the basis for a sexual harassment claim.
