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Stengel v. Beverage12/28/2004
ss shelter was raped by a man she was attempting to counsel regarding his disruptive behavior. McGowan, 527 N.W.2d at 832. The court held that her negligence action was barred by the WCA because her rape arose "solely out of McGowan's activities as an employee." Id. at 834. The court said that "employment that requires women to be in isolated places is a causal factor contributing to such an attack," and noted that McGowan was assaulted while directly engaged in the performance of her work duties. Id. at 834 (quotation omitted).
Here, we cannot say as a matter of law that respondent was assaulted solely because of the nature of her job duties or in her capacity as an employee, unlike the employees in Meintsma and McGowan. There was no peculiar hazard inherent in making signs. Indeed, nothing about being a sign-maker was a causal factor in the alleged assaults. Nor has appellant demonstrated that all its female employees were subjected to similar assaults. At its essence, appellant's position is that if an assault occurs at the workplace, that in and of itself puts the assault within the ambit of the WCA. This position is not supported by Minnesota precedent. To the contrary, the central question is not whether the employee was injured merely while at his or her employment, but whether the injury occurred because the employee was at the job "in touch with associations and conditions inseparable from it." Johnson v. Ramsey County, 424 N.W.2d 800, 805 (Minn. App. 1988) (holding that a kiss had no association with or to the job) (quotation omitted), review denied (Minn. Aug. 24, 1988). As Meintsma and McGowan clearly demonstrate, courts must examine cases on their individual facts to determine whether the employee's job function was somehow related to the injury. If it is not, then the assault exception applies and the employee's common-law claim is not barred by the Workers' Compensation Act. Thus, though the alleged assaults occurred during working hours and respondent had not had contact with any of her assailants outside of the workplace, we cannot say that as a matter of law respondent's injuries were not based on personal animosity.
While some cases will warrant granting summary judgment as a matter of law, on this record we conclude that appellant's motivations cannot be determined as a matter of law, and we leave to the trier of fact the determination of whether the assault exception applies.
DECISION
Because a genuine issue of material fact exists as to whether the alleged acts were directed against respondent for personal reasons or as an employee, the district court did not err in denying summary judgment of respondent's intentional tort claims.
Affirmed.
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