Lopez v. Intercept Youth Services, Inc.

Summary

The Supreme Court of Virginia held that the Virginia Workers’ Compensation Act provided the exclusive remedy for the estate of an employee murdered by a resident of an employer-operated residential program for at-risk youth. The court concluded that the murder arose out of and occurred in the course of employment because the employee was targeted at her workplace while performing employment duties and faced risks associated with the conditions of her job. The court affirmed the circuit court’s dismissal of the negligence and wrongful death action.

Holdings

1. An employee's murder arises out of employment when the probability of assault was augmented by the particular character of the employee's job or by a special liability to assault associated with the work environment. Lopez's murder satisfied that standard because she was targeted in her capacity as an employee, at her workplace, while performing an employment duty.
2. Because Lopez's death arose out of and in the course of her employment, the exclusivity provision of the Virginia Workers' Compensation Act barred the Estate's negligence and wrongful-death claims against Intercept.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the Virginia Workers' Compensation Act provided the exclusive remedy for the Estate's negligence and wrongful-death claims.
2. Whether Lopez's murder arose out of her employment under the Act's actual-risk standard.

Disposition

affirmed