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Plaintiff was severely injured when a wire disconnected by defendant’s work team snapped free and struck plaintiff in the face. Plaintiff required multiple surgeries and missed a substantial amount of work. Plaintiff filed a negligence claim against defendant. The district court granted summary judgment to defendant, ruling that Iowa’s Workers’ Compensation Act provided plaintiff’s sole remedy because he could not prove defendant’s gross negligence.
Where a defendant exposed himself or herself to the same risk of injury as a plaintiff, such evidence provided a strong inference that defendant did not know injury was a probable result of his or her action and thus defendant could not be liable for gross negligence.
Judgment is affirmed.
Van Dorn v. Hunter (MLW No. 72955/Case No. 18-2053 – 6 pages) (U.S. Court of Appeals, 8th Circuit, Erickson, J.) Appealed from U.S. District Court, Southern District of Iowa, Rose, J. (Bruce H. Stoltze, Sr., for appellant) (Kevin J. Driscoll for appellee; Eric G. Hoch on brief)
