Kifer v. Liberty Mutual Insurance

BOWMAN, Circuit Judge.

Defendant-appellant Liberty Mutual Insurance Company (Liberty) appeals from a final judgment entered by the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas on a jury verdict awarding plaintiffs-appellees $1,025,000 in compensatory and punitive damages. The dis-positive issue on appeal is whether the Arkansas Workers’ Compensation Act (the Act or the Arkansas Act) bars an injured employee’s common law action against his employer’s workers’ compensation insurance carrier for its alleged negligence in the making of safety inspections of the employer’s…