Comp Bar Applies in Teen Worker's Fatal Heavy Equipment Accident

The Georgia Court of Appeals on Friday affirmed the dismissal of tort claims filed by the parents of a 16-year-old worker who was killed while operating heavy machinery at a construction site, ruling that the state’s workers' compensation law provided the exclusive remedy. In Thigpen et al. v. Prickett et al., the appeals court held that Brian and Patricia Thigpen, individually and as surviving parents of Brian Thigpen Jr., could not pursue tort claims against Raymond Prickett, Brian’s supervisor at Terra Excavating. Brian, who was new to operating heavy machinery, had b...