Delaware: Tort Suit Against Third-Party Administrator May Move Forward

A plaintiff's civil action against a third-party administrator (TPA) for bad faith delay and denial of workers' compensation benefits and intentional infliction of emotional distress may move forward, held a Delaware court as it considered the trial court's denial of the TPA's motion for summary judgment. On the narrow issue of whether a plaintiff may sue a TPA for breach of the duty of good faith and fair dealing arising from a workers’ compensation contract, the court held there was no contradictory Delaware authority. Finding the TPA had failed to demonstrate that Delaware Supreme Court Rule 42(b) required that the Court exercise its discretion to certify interlocutory appeal, the appellate court denied the TPA’s Application.

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

LexisNexis Online Subscribers: Citations below link to Lexis Advance.

See Ferrari v. Helmsman Mgmt. Servs., LLC, 2020 Del. Super. LEXIS 2740 (Aug. 19, 2020)

See generally Larson’s Workers’ Compensation Law, § 114.02.

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

For a more detailed discussion of the case, see

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