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Crisp Regional Hospital9/23/2005
of his employer, Crisp Regional, but it provides no support for Oliver's tort action seeking to impose vicarious liability for the negligence on Crisp Regional.
Citing Drury v. VPS Case Management Svcs., Inc., 200 Ga. App. 540 (408 SE2d 809) (1991), Oliver also contends that, because his tort action against Crisp Regional is based on professional negligence which occurred subsequent to the initial job -related injury, the exclusive remedy provision does not bar the action. In Drury, the employee suffered a work-related injury and received WCA benefits provided by the employer, including professional vocational rehabilitation services provided by a separate company, VPS. When the employee sued VPS claiming the rehabilitation services were negligently provided, VPS claimed the exclusive remedy provision of the WCA barred the suit. Recognizing that the exclusive remedy provision would bar a tort claim by an employee "against his employer or his employer's alter ego for his compensable on-the-job accident," Drury held that VPS did not act as the employer's alter ego, but was engaged in "the subsequent provision of [professional] services to a previously injured workers' compensation claimant." Id. at 540-541. Thus, Drury found that the exclusive remedy provision did not bar the employee's negligence action against VPS because there was no shield against the professional negligence claim (see Davis, 258 Ga. 156), and because VPS was not otherwise immune as the employer or its alter ego. Drury, 200 Ga. App. at 541-542. Even if Oliver's tort action against Crisp Regional, like the action in Drury, was based on professional negligence which occurred after the initial job-related injury, Oliver's action is barred by the exclusive remedy provision because, unlike the action in Drury, Oliver seeks to impose tort liability on his employer.
Accordingly, we find that: (a) the trial court correctly ruled that the exclusive remedy provision barred Oliver's claim seeking to hold Crisp Regional vicariously liable for the negligence of nonprofessional administrative employees, and correctly granted Crisp Regional's motion for partial summary judgment on this claim, and (b) the trial court erred by ruling that the exclusive remedy provision did not bar Oliver's claim seeking to impose vicarious liability on Crisp Regional for the professional negligence of physicians who acted as its employees or apparent agents, and erred by denying Crisp Regional's motion for partial summary judgment on this claim. Lau's Corp. v. Haskins, 261 Ga. 491 (405 SE2d 474) (1991).
2. Oliver alleged that Crisp Regional was vicariously liable for the alleged negligence of Dr. Thomas and Dr. Sewell because they acted as either actual or apparent agents of Crisp Regional. The trial court granted partial summary judgment in favor of Crisp Regional on the actual agency claim, ruling that Dr. Thomas and Dr. Sewell were independent contractors rather than actual agents, and that a factual issue remained as to whether they were apparent agents of Crisp Regional. In Case No. A05A1174, Oliver appeals from this ruling claiming that the trial court erred by finding that the physicians were independent contractors rather than actual agents. Because we determined in division 1, supra, that the WCA's exclusive remedy provision bars Oliver's tort action seeking to impose vicarious liability on Crisp Regional for the negligence of the physicians, the action fails regardless of whether the physicians were negligent as actual agents or independent contractor/apparent agents. It follows that Oliver's appeal from this ruling is rendered moot.
3. The trial court also granted summary judgment in favor of Crisp Regional on Oliver's claim
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