Exclusive Remedy Bars Tort Suit Over Youth Counselor's Murder

The Virginia Supreme Court ruled that the exclusive remedy provision of the state Workers’ Compensation Act barred a youth counselor’s estate from pursuing a civil remedy for her murder at the hands of a resident in an independent living program. Lizeth Lopez was a counselor for Intercept Youth Services Inc. Intercept owns and operates a YouthQuest Independent Living program for at-risk young people. As of 2016, approximately 98% of the program residents had mental health diagnoses, and they had all been referred to the program from psychiatric hospitals, group homes and fos...