Shields v. American Motorists Insurance

J. SKELLY WRIGHT, District Judge.

This case presents a novel question: May an employee, having settled, with his employer, his claim in compensation, under the Louisiana Workmen’s Compensation Act,1 sue his employer’s liability carrier in tort for damages under LSA-C.C. Art. 2315? The defendant insurer urges that since the Act makes the remedy thereunder an exclusive one, plaintiff may not maintain this action in tort for damages.

There is no Louisiana case precisely in point. Gerstmayr v. Kolb, La.App., 158 So. 647, held that an employee who accepted weekly compensation checks and signed a…