New York Employment Lawyer Blog

While federal government employees are not covered under the New York Workers' Compensation Law, they are covered under the Federal Employees' Compensation Act ("FECA"). FECA provides that "[t]he United States shall pay compensation ... for the disability or death of [a federal] employee resulting from personal injury sustained while in the performance of his duty ...." See Mathirampuzha v. Potter, 548 F.3d 70 (2nd Cir. 2008).

In enacting this provision, Congress adopted the principal compromise-the "quid pro quo"-commonly found in workers' compensation legislation: employees are guaranteed the right to receive immediate, fixed benefits, regardless of fault and without need for litigation, but in return they lose the right to sue the Government. Lockheed Aircraft Corp. v. United States, 460 U.S. 190, 193-94, 103 S.Ct. 1033, 74 L.Ed.2d 911 (1983).

In New York, an employee may not sue his or her employer for physical injuries caused by the acts of a co-worker.

This is because New York's Workers' Compensation Law provides the exclusive remedy for an employee who seeks damages for unintentional injuries which he or she incurs in the course of employment. This exclusive remedy of workers' compensation precludes an employee's claims against his or her employer for negligent hiring, training, supervision and retention of another employee who assaults and injures that employee.

The only exception would be where the assault was perpetrated at the employer's direction. However, even in those cases, the complaint must allege an intentional or deliberate act by the employer directed at causing harm to this particular employee. In order to constitute an intentional tort, the conduct must be engaged in with the desire to bring about the consequences of the act; a mere knowledge and appreciation of a risk is not the same as the intent to cause injury.

See, Pereira v. St. Joseph's Cemetery, 864 N.Y.S.2d 491 (2nd Dept. 2008); Martinez v. Canteen Vending Services Roux Fine Dining Chartwheel, 795 N.Y.S.2d 16 (1st Dept. 2005).