Each year, Gerber & Holder Workers’ Compensation Attorneys holds an essay writing contest to help support students seeking higher education. This year’s topic was both timely and important: Is it fair that injured workers can be denied workers’ comp benefits for willful misconduct, but they can’t sue their employers for gross negligence? We asked students to tackle this complex question with the following prompt:
Georgia law provides employers with an ultimate defense to a workers’ compensation claim in the event they can prove that an injured worker shows willful misconduct in their on-the-job actions, such as wanton and reckless disregard for safety procedures; however, there is no ability in Georgia for an injured worker to sue his employer in tort if they are injured on the job due to gross negligence.
Should an employee be allowed to sue an employer in certain instances; should the willful misconduct exclusion be eliminated? Why or why not?
After reviewing more than 100 insightful entries, we chose Nadia Jones from the University of Arizona Global Campus as this year’s winner. We’re excited to share her compelling essay, along with excerpts from some of our other favorite submissions.
Our scholarship winner—Nadia Jones
from the University of Arizona Global Campus
“Workers’ compensation systems across the United States are designed to provide financial assistance and medical benefits to employees injured on the job while protecting employers from direct lawsuits related to workplace injuries. The workers’ compensation framework is exclusive in Georgia, as in many states. It typically precludes employees from suing their employers for workplace injuries, even if the employer was grossly negligent. However, Georgia law provides an ultimate defense to a workers’ compensation claim if the employer can demonstrate that the injury resulted from the employee’s willful misconduct, such as a wanton and reckless disregard for safety procedures. This essay will argue that employees should indeed be allowed to sue their employers for gross negligence and that the willful misconduct exclusion should be carefully reconsidered to ensure fairness and justice in the workplace.
The primary rationale for allowing employees to sue employers for gross negligence is to uphold a higher workplace safety and accountability standard. Gross negligence goes beyond mere carelessness: it involves a severe lack of due diligence and a blatant disregard for the safety of employees. By enabling employees to pursue legal action in cases of gross negligence, the law would incentivize employers to maintain safer work environments and adhere strictly to safety protocols.
Briana Schroll Wood from the University of Pittsburgh
“Safeguarding employee rights while preserving a stable business environment requires a nuanced, carefully crafted legal framework that promotes accountability and mutual trust. Provisions must protect workers from unacceptable negligence, without impeding employers’ ability to operate viable businesses. Threatening this needle demands an exacting balance – one that can evolve as society’s values and priorities shift over time.”
Brian Gwyn from Brigham Young University-Idaho
“There is clearly a hole in worker’s rights in this area. Some states have provisions for suing employers in cases of intentional infliction of injury (Emery & Reddy, 2023). This law would be a common-sense protection that doesn’t currently exist in Georgia, and should be considered. The current system of worker’s compensation is put into place for a variety of good reasons, and the willful misconduct exception is an important right to protect businesses, but, worker protections are lacking and expansion through exceptions for intentional torts would be greatly beneficial to laborers in Georgia.”
Harmony Hagadorn from Colorado State University Global Campus
“When an individual, knowingly disobeys safety precautions, procedures and guidelines and is injured or dies within the process, the company/employer should not be found at fault for their actions and therefore should not be sued for damages incurred. The Wilful Misconduct Exclusion is there to protect organizations, 99.6% of all businesses in the state of Georgia are small businesses. Companies that risk complete failure if large sums are required for a payout expense for an employee’s neglect. In order to sustain a healthy economy and honorable business practices, the Exclusion act should stand.”
Carter McAleer from Western Oregon University
“It is clear that while accidents happen and employees should not suffer from simple mistakes of misconduct, intentional delinquency should not ever be protected under Georgia law. The willful misconduct exclusion is a key piece of the Georgia compensation system because of the protections it provides for employers by closing possible employee loopholes to collect undeserved funds and raise employer insurance costs. If the willful misconduct exclusion were to be eliminated to strengthen worker rights then employers would lose their greatest protection against careless workers who do not value their safety or the safety of their fellow employees. The significance of the exclusion must be recognized and is a key part of the worker compensation system that Georgia offers.”
Kennedy Nuckles from the University of Georgia
“The willful misconduct exclusion is useful for the same reasons that allowing employees to sue employers is useful. Just as the threat of a lawsuit can incentivize employers to create safe working conditions, the willful misconduct exclusion can incentivize employees to follow their employers’ safety regulations and only bring workers’ compensation claims in good faith. While a workers’ compensation claim may be insignificant to large corporations, they can seriously damage the financial status of small businesses. Consequently, there should be some provision in place that protects smaller businesses from being taken advantage of by bad actors.”
Daisy Macias from Emory
“Employers look to reduce costs. Whether these costs are reduced by changing the quality of toilet paper or dismissing a broken machine depends on each employer. In a world where money rules, there are bound to be those employers that disregard the safety of their employees for the sake of cutting costs. With this possibility, an employee must be allowed to sue an employer in certain instances. Taking this opportunity away from employees can further incentivize an employer to continue to impart gross negligence. Why change their ways when they can’t get in trouble for it? And while an employee can quit, what happens to the next batch of employees? In the end, it breeds a cycle of hurt. Giving employees a proper voice is essential to creating a safe workplace for all.”
Think you have what it takes to write a winning essay?
Thank you to everyone who participated in this year’s scholarship essay contest! If you’re a college student, don’t miss out on our upcoming essay contest for your chance to win a $1,000 scholarship.
Check out our scholarship page to view the next essay topic and submit your work.
