On March 18, 2008 the Georgia Court of Appeals decided the case of McLeod v. Blase. This case presents another intersection where workers’ compensation law meets tort law. This case was a personal injury case arising from Cobb County State Court, which is near Atlanta, Georgia, involving an athlete who was injured and tried to sue the athletic trainer for professional malpractice. The potential exposure of company doctors to personal injury lawsuits has been an interesting area of law within workers’ compensation, especially in Georgia. Historically, many companies had medical providers located at their factories or manufacturing facilities for employees to see if they were sick or hurt on the job. In McLeod, a professional basketball player was hurt and the athletic trainer was employed by the National Basketball Association. I believe that the player was playing for the Atlanta Hawks professional basketball team.
This case presents an interesting intersection between Atlanta professional sports and Georgia workers’ compensation law. In this case, the judge in Cobb County State Court granted the trainer’s Motion for Summary Judgment and disallowed the injured worker to sue the athletic trainer for the Atlanta Hawks. The rationale for this was that the athletic trainer was protected under the exclusive remedy provision of OCGA 34 9 11 as the athletic trainer was deemed a co employee to the professional athlete. This decision was upheld by the Georgia Court of Appeals. This case presents a hurdle for injured people in Atlanta and throughout Georgia. While the actual scenario in this case is rather narrow, it further limits the ability of employees who are injured through negligence of third parties such at athletic trainers to bring personal injury lawsuits. Georgia falls within a majority of states which do not allow tort actions against co employee physicians and other medical professionals.
