Split Court Says Supervisor Had no Independent Duty to Prevent Worker's Accident

A divided Missouri Court of Appeals on Tuesday ruled that a catastrophically injured construction worker, whose accident happened during a period in which Missouri law allowed workers to sue co-employees in tort, couldn't assert a viable negligence action against his supervisor based on the conduct that had allegedly caused his mishap. The court's majority said plaintiff Curt Peters' assertions about what Patrick Terrio should and shouldn't have done were "perfectly inseparable" from the duty of their joint employer to provide both of them with a safe workplace. By ...