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Valencia v. Freeland and Lemm Construction Company6/24/2003
I. Facts and Procedural History
The parties do not dispute the facts of this case, but they offer differing interpretations of the applicable law. It is a tragic set of circumstances that led to this lawsuit. Franscisco Valencia was a regular employee of Freeland and Lemm Construction Company ("Freeland") and worked in an open construction trench. On August 26, 1998, the trench in which Valencia was working collapsed, burying him alive and causing his death. Both parties agree that Valencia was killed in the course and scope of his employment.
Safety regulations require that companies using construction trenches either slope the sides of the trenches or use "trench-boxes" to ensure that the trenches do not collapse. Prior to the collapse that caused Valencia's death, Freeland was cited twice for violating these safety regulations. In spite of these citations, Freeland continued to construct trenches that were neither sloped nor reinforced. Freeland also did not provide a stairway, ladder, ramp or other safe means of egress from the trench, which was also a violation of safety standards. Likely, as a result of Freeland's safety violations, the trench in which Valencia was working collapsed, causing his death.
Valencia's next of kin ("Plaintiff") filed suit. Plaintiff sought workers' compensation benefits and alleged the following tort claims: intentional misrepresentation, negligence, strict liability, wrongful death and assault. Freeland moved to sever the workers' compensation claim from the tort law claims, and the trial court granted the motion. Plaintiff amended the complaint to allege that Freeland acted with the "actual intent" to injure Valencia. Thereafter, Freeland filed a motion to dismiss Plaintiff's tort law claims, which the trial court granted, stating that Plaintiff's amended complaint indicated that the employer's conduct was "substantially certain" to cause death, but that the employer's conduct was not indicative of an "actual intent" to injure Valencia. On appeal, the Court of Appeals affirmed, finding that workers' compensation law was Plaintiff's exclusive remedy.
We granted this appeal to determine whether the judicially-created exception to the exclusive remedy requirement of workers' compensation law, which requires "actual intent," should be broadly interpreted to include an employer's conduct that is "substantially certain" to cause injury or death.
II. Standard of Review
This case calls into question the scope of the exclusivity provision of Tennessee Code Annotated section 50-6-108 (1999). In workers' compensation cases, questions of statutory construction are reviewed de novo without a presumption of correctness. Perry v. Sentry Ins. Co., 938 S.W.2d 404, 406 (Tenn. 1996); see Peace v. Easy Trucking Co., 38 S.W.3d 526, 528 (Tenn. 2001). When construing a statute, our goal is "to ascertain and give effect to the legislative intent without unduly restricting or expanding a statute's coverage beyond its intended scope." Owens v. State, 908 S.W.2d 923, 926 (Tenn. 1995). Our interpretation of the Workers' Compensation Act is guided by "a consideration which is always before us in workers' compensation cases-that these laws should be rationally but liberally construed to promote and adhere to the Act's purposes of securing benefits to those workers who fall within its coverage." Lindsey v. Smith & Johnson, Inc., 601 S.W.2d 923, 925 (Tenn. 1980).
III. Analysis
We granted review in this case to determine whether the judicially-created exception to the exclusive remedy requirement, "actual intent," should be broadly interpreted to include an employer's conduct that is "substan
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