CACI 2812 Injury Caused by Co-Employee’s Intoxication—Essential Factual Elements (Lab. Code, § 3601(a)(2))
California Civil Jury Instructions CACI
2812 Injury Caused by Co-Employee’s Intoxication—Essential Factual Elements (Lab. Code, § 3601(a)(2))
[Name of plaintiff] claims that [he/she/nonbinary pronoun] was harmed because [name of defendant] was intoxicated. To establish this claim, [name of plaintiff] must prove all of the following:
1.That [name of defendant] [insert description of injury-producing conduct];
2.That [name of defendant] was intoxicated;
3.That [name of plaintiff] was harmed; and
4.That [name of defendant]’s intoxication was a substantial factor in causing [name of plaintiff]’s harm.
Directions for Use
This instruction is intended for use in cases where a co-employee is the defendant and the plaintiff alleges that the case falls outside of the workers’ compensation exclusivity rule.
Sources and Authority
•Exclusive Remedy: Exception for Act of Intoxicated Coemployee. Labor Code section 3601(a)(2).
•“As relevant here, a civil suit is permissible when an employee proximately causes another employee’s injury or death by a ‘willful and unprovoked physical act of aggression’ or by intoxication. If an employee brings a lawsuit against a coemployee based on either of these exceptions, the employer is not ‘held liable, directly or indirectly, for damages awarded against, or for a liability incurred by the other employee … .’ This provision is consistent with the view that a coemployee is immune from suit to the extent necessary to prevent an end-run against the employer under the exclusivity rule. ‘It is self-evident that Labor Code section 3601 did not establish or create a new right or cause of action in the employee but severely limited a preexisting right to freely sue a fellow employee for damages.’ ” (Torres v. Parkhouse Tire Service, Inc. (2001) 26 Cal.4th 995, 1002 [111 Cal.Rptr.2d 564, 30 P.3d 57], internal citations and footnotes omitted.)