Louisiana: Worker’s Tort Suit Related to Pre-Work Elevator Incident Barred by Exclusivity

A Louisiana appellate court affirmed a trial court’s decision granting summary judgment to an employer in a civil action filed by a worker who sustained injuries in an elevator incident on the employer’s premises approximately one-half hour before beginning her workday. The plaintiff/worker contended the injuries did not occur within the course and scope of the employment since she had not yet “clocked in.” The trial court disagreed, and the appellate court concurred. The appellate court indicated that it was irrelevant that the elevator was also used by the general public. The court further reasoned that the facts could clearly be analogized to a parking lot injury. The court said that if a parking lot adjacent to the employer’s premises could be considered part of the premises, then certainly an elevator inside the employer’s facility could be considered part of the premises as well.

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 Edigo v. Otis Elevator Co., 19-229 (La.App. 3 Cir. 11/06/19)

See generally Larson’s Workers’ Compensation Law, § 13.04.

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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