Recently, the Fourth District Court of Appeals overturned a jury award of more than $700,000 to a plaintiff involved in a car accident at work. Bungard v. Jeffers (Ohio App. 4 Dist., January 28, 2014, 2014-Ohio-334).
In Bungard, the plaintiff filed a negligence suit against his coworker, Steven Jeffers, after his car was rear-ended in an employee parking lot by Mr. Jeffers’ car. The case proceeded to trial and the jury returned a verdict in favor of Mr. Bungard, awarding him $723,751.13 in economic damages. Mr. Jeffers’ motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict was denied and he subsequently appealed.
The Court of Appeals first found that Mr. Bungard’s injury was sustained in the course and scope of his employment. In support of this finding, the court emphasized that the parties’ employer controlled the parking lot where the accident occurred and the parking lot was in the zone of Mr. Bungard’s employment. The Court then noted that ORC 4213.741 provides fellow employee immunity in negligence suits just as ORC 4123.74 provides immunity to employers who comply with the Ohio Workers’’ Compensation Act. Because Mr. Jeffers established that he was entitled to immunity under ORC 4123.741 as a matter of law, the trial court erred by denying his motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict.