Chapter 24 - Compensation Systems as Substitutes for Tort Law

Pick up at Unit 2

Fault & Benefits Table: Instructions for Studying: Call out one of the rubrics, and list the remaining information about them.

Issue Spotting Checklist: Instructions for Studying: attempt to list them by memory

Works’ compensation was the earliest broad legislative _____ substitute for ordinary workplace-injury tort claims.

no-fault

The historical impetus included injury rates associated with the ______ _______ and the difficulty of tort recovery.

Industrial Revolution

The system substitutes more ____ ____ ____ benefits for potentially higher tort damages.

certain but limited

Workers’ compensation means benefits for qualifying injuries arising from _____ without providing employer negligence.

employment

The _____ _____ principle usually prevents an injured employee from also suing the employer in ordinary tort.

exclusive remedy

A _____ _____ ____ was a common-law defense for workplace injuries caused by coworkers.

fellow-servant rule

______ _____ means the employer itself funds covered compensation obligations rather than buying all risk from an insurer.

Self insurance

For a covered workplace injury, the employee ordinarily need not establish the employer’s ______.

fault

In return for statutory benefits, the complying employer normally obtains _____ _____ _____ _____ ______ ______.

immunity from common law negligence suits.

An injured worker may still sue a negligent ____ ____, subject to reimbursement/subrogation rules described in the reading.

third party

Workers’ compensation is generally limited to ________ rather than ______ _______.

1. Employees

2. Independent contractors

The critical coverage inquiry identified by the text is whether the claimant suffered a ____ ____ _____.

work related injury

Coverage analysis asks whether the injury arose out of or in the ____ ____ ____.

course of employment

The injury claimant ordinarily must be an _____ to receive the statutory benefit.

employee

Courts may examine whether an event was reasonably an ____ ____ ____ rather than demanding that the precise injury have been foreseeable.

incident of employment

Coverage problems may involve ____ _____ _____ as well as incidents at the usual work place.

off premises work

The textbook asks whether a psychic injury followed from a workplace _____ ____ ______.

harassment or horseplay.

An employer’s ____ ____ tort may fall outside exclusivity under certain jurisdiction-specific rules.

intentional tort

A workers’ compensation award generally does not provide ordinary tort ____ ____ ____ or ____ ____.

1. Pain and suffering

2. Punitive damages

The general statutory scheme does not ordinarily cover _____ _____.

independent contractors

Under the Ohio statute quoted in the notes, “substantially certain” is statutorily equated with _____ _____ ___ ____, illustrating a narrower later test.

deliberate intent to injure

The chapter describes the principal benefits test as whether there was a _____ ____ ____, not who deserves blame.

work related injury

In the Ohio statutory note, deliberate removal of a safety guard may create a rebuttable presumption of ____ ____ ____ if resulting injury is shown.

intent to injure

The three traditional obstacles to tort recovery were _____ ____ _____, ______ _____, and the ____ ____ _____.

1. Assumption of risk

2. Contributory negligence

3. Fellow servant rule

The system commonly provides ____ ____, ____ ____, and ____ ____ _____ _____.

1. Cash benefits

2. Medical expenses

3. Death benefits for dependents

The textbook identifies ____ ____, ____ ____ ____, and employer ____ ____ as funding routes.

1. Private insurance

2. State funded insurance

3. Self insurance

An ______ _____ generally oversees the streamlined befits process.

administrative commission

____ v. ____ ____ ____ ___ struck down an early New York compensation scheme in 1911; the state later revised its constitution and enacted an upheld law.

Ives v. Southern Buffalo Railroad Co.

In _____ v. ____ ____ _____ ____, the Ohio Supreme Court allowed intentional-tort allegations to escape the employer immunity rule applied to ordinary workplace injuries.

Blakenship v. Cincinnati Milacron Chemicals, Inc.

_____ v. ____ ___ _____ ___ is cited for a trip home after an assigned off-premises task falling within the course of employment.

Nemchick v. Thatcher Glass Manufacturing Co.

_____ v. _____ ___ ____ is cited for a supervisor’s sexual harassment producing an injury not within course of employment coverage on those facts.

Anderson v. Save-A-Lot

The majority in ______ reasoned intentional conduct should not be treated as an ordinary natural risk of employment.

Blakenship

Note: The dissenting views in Blankenship raised whether actual intent to injure or the statutory language should control.

The subsequent Ohio statutory notes narrow employer intent exposure, so the _____ ____ ___ ___ __ ____ ___ ___ _____.

1982 decision is not a universal present day rule.

Hypo 1: A warehouse employee slips during her assigned shift because she failed to look down. The company carries required workers’ compensation. Can she ordinarily claim benefits even though she was inattentive.

Issue:

Rule:

Application/Conclusion:

Yes, assuming a qualifying work related injury. Employer/employee fault generally is not the threshold inquiry; workers’ compensation displaces ordinary negligence proof.

Hypo 2: A freelance electrician working as an independent contractor is hurt replacing lights at a store. Is the workers' compensation route automatic?

Issue:

Rule:

Application/Conclusion:

No. The reading limits ordinary workers' compensation coverage to employees; determine the actual employment classification and jurisdiction-specific statute.

An employee injured by a negligent outside delivery driver receives compensation. May she also pursue the driver?

Generally yes; the chapter permits third-party tort actions and describes reimbursement of employer-paid benefits before remaining recovery reaches the worker.

A manager deliberately exposes workers to toxic chemicals. Under the 1982 Blankenship reasoning, what question matters?

Whether employer conduct amounts to an intentional tort outside the ordinary work-related risk; do not assume the same rule applies today, especially given the later Ohio statute discussed in the notes.

A worker is hurt while driving home from a special work assignment rather than an ordinary commute. What issue should a grader expect?

Course-of-employment coverage, including whether the trip is an incident of an off-premises assignment. Nemchick is the cited comparison.

Unlike tort litigation, compensation generally does not require proof of ___ ___ ____.

breach of duty

Unlike no-fault auto PIP, workers’ compensation is tied to a claimant’s status as an _____.

employee

Third party tort litigation may coexist with worker benefits, but ______ reimbursement prevents treating both payments as wholly independent windfalls.

reimbursement

A covered worker normally proves qualifying ______ ____ ____, rather than defendant negligence.

employment related injury

The Ohio statute noted in the chapter places the issue of deliberate employer _____ at the center of an intentional tort lawsuit,

intent

The chapter gives a typical wage benefit range of ___-____ to ____-_____ of weekly wages (a historical general description, not a state entitlement).

1. One-half

2. Two-thirds

Eligible workers may receive payment of _____ and _____ expenses.

1. Hospital

2. Medical

The statutory system commonly bars tort awards for ___-_____ against the employer.

non-economic

A recovery against a negligent third party is described as reimbursing the _____ before distributing the remaining sum to the worker.

employer

True or False: Texas identifies as a state permitting employers to opt out of the standard workers’ compensation system.

True (TX)

True or False: The historical Ohio intentional-tort exception from Blankenship must be read with the later statutory developments quoted on page 1456.

True

The Keeton-O’Connell proposal sought a ____ of no-fault first-party compensation and traditional tort.

hybrid

Motor vehicle crashes were a major driver of the search for an _____ _____ scheme.

alternative compensation