Birklid v. Boeing Co.

While Washington law has recognized that industrial insurance is the exclusive remedy of the employee injured in the course of employment and barred lawsuits by employees against employers, by its enactment of the Industrial Insurance Act (IIA), the Legislature also established an exception to the rule of exclusivity for circumstances in which an employer deliberately injures an employee. In those circumstances, an employee retains the right to sue the employer.

In a case involving a conflict between the exclusivity provision of Washington’s Industrial Insurance Act, RCW 51.04.010, and the…