Likewise, the exclusive remedy rule prevents claims against fellow employees acting within the scope of their employment.1 However, the following exceptions apply:

• When the injury or death is legally caused by the other employee’s willful and unprovoked physical act of aggression.
• When the injury or death is legally caused by the other employee’s intoxication.2

Exceptions to the Exclusive Remedy of Workers’ Compensation

Although in most circumstances, workers’ compensation is the exclusive remedy for work-related illnesses and injuries, there are legal exceptions to this exclusivity. You are not protected from civil litigation if:

• The employee’s injury or death is legally caused by your willful physical assault.3
• The employee’s injury or death is legally caused by a defective product that you manufactured and sold, leased or otherwise transferred to a third person, and the third person provides that product for the employee’s use.
• The employee’s injury is aggravated by your fraudulent concealment of the injury’s existence and its connection with the employment. In this case, your liability is limited to the damages legally caused by the aggravation. It is your responsibility to prove which damages were due to the original injury and which were due to the subsequent aggravation.4
• The employee’s injury is caused by your actions which are outside the compensation bargain. This means that where the employer has violated an express statute or engaged in conduct against a fundamental public policy (e.g., false imprisonment, disability-based discrimination or sexual harassment), then the employer can be held liable for damages in civil court. But otherwise, provided the employer conduct occurs in the normal course of the employer-employee relationship, even outrageous conduct causing severe emotional distress falls within the exclusive province of workers’ compensation.5

1. Lab. Code sec. 3601