A workers compensation insurer that paid $1.1 million in benefits to a bartender accidentally shot by an off-duty police officer may continue to pursue a subrogation claim against the city of Honolulu even after the worker’s third-party suit against the city was dismissed, the Hawaii Supreme Court ruled Monday.
The high court sided with Dongbu Insurance Co. Ltd. in a case that began with the April 2015 shooting of Hyun Ju Park at Kings Sports Bar & Grill.
Ms. Park, who collected workers comp benefits, sued the city and the officer who shot her, as well as another off-duty officer at the bar with the defendant that night. A federal trial court dismissed the suit and was upheld by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
Dongbu Insurance later asserted a right of subrogation seeking to recover workers comp payments made to Ms. Park.
After its motion for summary judgment was denied in August 2022, the city asked the state Supreme Court to address whether a subrogee insurer has a right to continue pursuing its claim after a trial court rules against a plaintiff in the underlying litigation.
The high court said that while two of Dongbu’s claims in its subrogation lawsuit were dismissed, two others — negligent training and negligent supervision — were still pending, so it would be premature to dismiss the entire subrogation case at this stage.