EGH Attorney Jason Tuttle recovered $100,000 in worker’s compensation death benefits for the estate of a 21 year old shot and killed while working on the floor of a North Carolina warehouse facility.
The deceased was an employee of a temp agency and had been assigned to a material handler role in a warehouse facility, where he worked third shift. The deceased had been working for less than two weeks at the warehouse, when an employee of the warehouse brought a gun to work. The shooter opened fire directly at the deceased. The deceased did not survive long enough to receive medical treatment.
The shooter fled the warehouse, but was later arrested and charged with First Degree Murder. The shooter had no criminal history beyond speeding tickets.
The death benefit claim was initially denied in its entirety by the worker’s compensation carrier, who argued that the shooting did not “arise out of” the employment of the deceased but was instead due to an unrelated personal dispute. In North Carolina, for a worker’s compensation claim to be compensable, the injury must arise out of and in the course of employment. The parties resolved the claim through settlement.
DISCLAIMER: The outcome of a particular case cannot be predicated upon a lawyer’s or a law firm’s past results. Past results should not be construed as a representation that we will be successful with any particular case in the future, and not every case in which we have been involved has resulted in a favorable outcome. Settlements are the result of private negotiations between parties involved that may be affected by factor other than the legal merits of a particular case.