An injured worker should have been permitted to move forward with his third-party negligence lawsuit stemming from a workplace vehicle accident because it was not barred by a workers compensation settlement, a Georgia appellate court ruled Tuesday.
The Georgia Court of Appeals said a trial court wrongly granted summary judgment to the defendants in a suit brought by William Hayes, who was injured in an accident while driving a vehicle for his employer, Waldrop’s Lawn Care.
Mr. Hayes was struck by a vehicle driven by Brian Gardner, employed by KSP Services LLC. Both Mr. Gardner and KSP Services were named as defendants.
A trial judge granted the defendants summary judgment, saying Mr. Hayes was barred from suing due to representations he made during the course of settlement his workers comp claim. The defense argued that Mr. Hayes concealed certain settlement documents.
Mr. Hayes asserted that the trial judge misconstrued terms under the workers comp law in analyzing the settlement documents and misapplied a legal doctrine called “judicial estoppel,” a concept preventing parties from taking positions that are contrary to positions taken in earlier legal proceedings.
The trial judge agreed with the defendants that Mr. Hayes was barred from suing because of “seemingly contradictory representations” made during his comp settlement.
The appeals court, however, said a “no liability” workers comp settlement between an employee and employer does not bar the injured worker from bringing tort claims against a third party.