Hartford can intervene in business trip injury suit to protect subrogation lien

A workers compensation insurer can intervene in a premises liability lawsuit brought by a woman who was injured after falling at a hotel during a business trip, the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Wednesday.

Candace Hensley claims she suffered serious injuries, including brain damage, after tripping over an uneven rise in concrete at the Westin Hotel in Indianapolis during a May 2017 business trip.

Hartford Casualty Insurance Co., the workers compensation insurer for Ms. Hensley’s employer, paid out benefits following the injury, because the incident occurred during a work function. The insurer sought to intervene in the slip-and-fall suit to protect its subrogation lien.

A federal trial court granted summary judgment to the defendants – Westin Hotel and Merritt Hospitality LLC – because they didn’t “exercise the requisite control over the hotel premises or did not have actual knowledge that the curb Hensley tripped over presented an unreasonable risk of injury,” according to the 11th Circuit’s ruling.

The appeals court did not address the merits of the district court’s summary judgment order because it said the court was divested of subject matter jurisdiction when Hartford intervened to protect its subrogation lien.

The 11th Circuit vacated the summary judgment order and remanded the case to the federal district court with instructions to send the matter back to Indiana state court.