Summary
adhering to Laing, holding teacher and security personnel were not engaged in unrelated works
Summary of this case from Taylor v. School Bd. of Brevard CountyOpinion
No. 3D00-1718.
Opinion filed March 28, 2001.
An Appeal from the Circuit Court for Miami-Dade County, Jon I. Gordon, Judge. Lower Tribunal No. 99-5479.
Jack L. Herskowitz, and Jon Herskowitz; and Dorothy F. Easley, for appellants.
Pyszka, Blackmon, Levy Mowers, and Cindy J. Mishcon, for appellee.
Before Levy, Green, and Ramirez, JJ.
Caridad Sanchez, a middle school teacher, sued the Dade County School Board for negligence after she was sexually assaulted and beaten during her lunch period by a trespasser in the teachers' parking lot. The trial court granted summary judgment in favor of the School Board based on its workers' compensation immunity. We agree that by accepting workers' compensation benefits, Sanchez was precluded from asserting a tort claim against her employer. See § 440.11, Fla. Stat. (1999). We recently held in Dade County Sch. Bd. v. Laing, 731 So.2d 19 (Fla. 3d DCA 1999) that the "unrelated works" exception to workers' compensation immunity did not apply between a teacher and a custodian. "The fact that employees have different duties does not necessarily mean they are involved in `unrelated works.'. . . Because both were engaged in activities primarily related to the provision of education related services, the `unrelated works' exception to the School Board's immunity under Section 440.11(1) does not apply." Id. at 20. We see no distinction between the teacher-custodian relationship in Laing and the teacher-security personnel relationship in this case.
We therefore affirm.