Adam Goodman and Paul Underwood v. Blake Auton

Summary

The Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia held that municipal employees were entitled to workers’ compensation immunity from a negligence action arising from a garbage-truck accident that seriously injured a coemployee. The court concluded that both employees were acting in furtherance of their employer’s business, notwithstanding allegations that one employee was under the influence of controlled substances and that the other reacted negligently. The court reversed and remanded for entry of summary judgment in favor of the petitioners and declined to address governmental immunity.

Holdings

1. West Virginia Code section 23-2-6a extends an employer's workers' compensation immunity to a coemployee who is acting in furtherance of the employer's business and does not inflict injury with deliberate intention. Because both Goodman and Underwood were performing assigned garbage-collection duties, their alleged negligence did not remove them from that immunity.
2. The court declined to address governmental immunity because workers' compensation immunity independently barred the cause of action and required summary judgment for petitioners.

Questions Presented

1. Whether workers' compensation immunity under West Virginia Code sections 23-2-6 and 23-2-6a barred Auton's negligence claims against Goodman and Underwood.
2. Whether Goodman was acting in furtherance of the employer's business despite allegedly operating the garbage truck while under the influence of controlled substances.
3. Whether Underwood's alleged failure to react promptly or alert Goodman removed him from the statutory protection for coemployees acting in furtherance of the employer's business.
4. Whether the West Virginia Governmental Tort Claims and Insurance Reform Act provided an additional basis for immunity.

Disposition

reversed_and_remanded