Minnesota: Workers’ Compensation Provides Exclusive Remedy for Teacher Injured in Fight at School

A Minnesota high school teacher and lunchroom supervisor, who sustained injuries when he tried to break up a fight between two students during a lunch period, may not maintain a civil action against his employer (and various officials) for negligence, held a U.S. District Court Judge in Minnesota. The teacher received workers’ compensation benefits following the injury and sued the school district, alleging negligence and negligent supervision. He also contended that the defendants failed to protect him despite their knowledge that the school had significant safety concerns. The judge noted that there were three relevant exceptions to the exclusive remedy provision: the assault exception, the intentional act exception, and the co-employee liability exception. The teacher had failed, however, to establish any of the three exceptions and summary judgment was granted to the defendants.

Thomas A. Robinson, J.D., the Feature National Columnist for the LexisNexis Workers’ Compensation eNewsletter, is the co-author of Larson’s Workers’ Compensation Law (LexisNexis).

LexisNexis Online Subscribers: Citations below link to Lexis Advance.

See Ekblad v. Independent Sch. Dist. No. 625, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 81057 (D. Minn., May 25, 2017)

See generally Larson’s Workers’ Compensation Law, § 103.03.

Source: Larson’s Workers’ Compensation Law, the nation’s leading authority on workers’ compensation law