Workplace shootings create unique risks to Florida employers. Is a co-worker shooting incident covered by workers’ compensation benefits, or not? A recent case (Bottling Group v. Bastien) has wide implications for Florida employers. The court ruled that an employer cannot deny a workers’ compensation claim on the grounds that a shooting injury is not work-related and then turn around and argue it has immunity from a tort lawsuit because the incident happened at work. The District Court of Appeals upheld the Miami-Dade decision.

What happened?  In 2020, there was a shooting incident near the Pepsi Bottling facility in Medley, Florida, near the Miami Airport.  Two workers had a simmering dispute (allegedly about one employee’s union activity) and left the workplace during a break to settle the dispute with a fight.  Bastien was seriously injured when his “aggressive” co-worker shot him 3 times while he was in his vehicle.  Both workers were on break and the shooting took place on a nearby roadway.  Bastien was seriously injured in the shooting and Pepsi Bottling Group denied his workers’ compensation case because the “injury did not occur in the course or scope of employment – accident/injury occurred off-premises”.   Later, Bastien filed a personal injury (tort) case against PepsiCo and the Bottling Group (for failing to discipline or terminate the aggressive employee despite numerous complaints from coworkers).  Pepsi asked the trial court to dismiss the lawsuit, contending that the company was protected from tort actions by the exclusive remedy of the workers’ comp system.

Lesson for Florida Employers.  The case re-affirms that Florida courts notice the inconsistency of employers/insurers who ask for immunity after already denying a claim as non-work related. Denying work comp benefits to an employee because an accident did not happen in the course of employment means an employer will be unlikely to have an immunity defense to a tort claim.  Making these two assertions are inconsistent grounds. Workplace injuries resulting from non-work actions, such as anger from a personal relationship gone bad, have consistently been deemed to be non-compensable in Florida.  So, if workplace shooting victims are not able to collect workers’ compensation benefits, they will need to file personal injury negligence lawsuits against their employers in order to receive compensation for the injuries.  Workplace shooting victims, involving employees, will still need to prove that it was work related to collect workers’ compensation benefits.