The Pennsylvania Supreme Court recently issued a significant decision enforcing the Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation Act’s (the act) exclusivity provision. See Franczyk v. The Home Depot, (Pa. April 19, 2023). The plaintiff, a Home Depot employee, was bitten by a customer’s dog, after which she underwent surgery and received workers’ compensation benefits. She sued Home Depot and her supervisors alleging her supervisors barred her from speaking with the dog owner or other witnesses, whose identities were never discovered by the incident investigation. The plaintiff claimed that, due to the acts and omissions of her supervisors, she was unable to file a third-party suit against the dog owner. Specifically, she argued Home Depot’s alleged failure to obtain the witnesses’ information and adequately investigate the incident prevented her from pursuing a claim.

Home Depot moved for summary judgment pursuant to the immunity provided by the exclusivity provision of the act; the trial and superior courts held an employee may sue an employer outside of the act where the employer’s failure to properly investigate a workplace injury denies the employee of the opportunity to file a third-party suit against the tortfeasor. The lower courts found that an employer cannot claim protection under the act’s exclusivity provision when its own alleged actions prevented an employee from filing a third-party claim. In a 6-0 opinion, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court reversed and remanded for entry of summary judgment in favor of Home Depot.

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