Lee v. West Kern Water District

Opinion

SMITH, J.

This case involves the applicability of the workers’ compensation exclusivity rule to an unusual set of facts. This rule governs the matter of when an injured worker can bring a civil action against the employer and when he or she is instead limited to the remedy of a workers’ compensation award.

Plaintiff Kathy Lee, an employee of defendant West Kern Water District (district), sued the district and four coemployees for assault and intentional infliction of emotional distress after the coemployees staged a mock robbery with Lee as the victim. In the mock robbery, one of the…