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Florida Supreme Court broadens workers’ comp coverage for workplace assaults
The court found a claim can qualify when the employee shows the assault was tied to work duties or the work environment, rejecting a narrow task-based test.
Florida’s Supreme Court has expanded when workers’ compensation can cover injuries from third-party assaults, ruling that an employee may receive benefits if they can show the incident was connected to their job duties or work environment, according to Risk & Insurance. The decision in Mohammed Bouayad vs. Normandy Insurance Company clarifies that occupational causation for workplace violence claims should be based on risk exposure from the job, not a limited focus on the exact task being performed at the moment of injury.
The case arose after Mohammed Bouayad, a general manager for a car rental business, was shot around midnight by an unidentified assailant while walking between an indoor hotel kiosk and an outdoor office. The article says Bouayad was carrying cash and rental agreements and was working a late shift to train new staff after recently terminating three employees.
Workers’ compensation coverage generally requires that the injury occur in the course and scope of employment and that it arise out of the work performed, the outlet noted. In this dispute, the insurance carrier denied the claim, arguing the assault did not satisfy the work-related causation requirement and was instead a targeted personal attack with no link to employment.
Bouayad argued the injury was inherently work-related because his duties and work setting increased his risk of being attacked, pointing to factors including carrying cash late at night and moving through a dimly lit and unsecured area. Risk & Insurance reports the court ruled for the injured employee, rejecting the carrier’s narrow, task-based approach to whether the assault was occupationally related.