Opinion ID: 1671733
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Workers' Compensation Defense

Text: The trial court erred in failing to direct a verdict in favor of the defendant, BMH, as to all claims asserted by Wright. It is undisputed that Wright accepted workers' compensation payments from BMH, her employer. This Court has consistently held that the acceptance of compensation payments under the Work[ers'] Compensation Act constitutes an election that estops the employee from resorting to any other remedy. Davis v. M.C. Dixon Lumber Co., 551 So.2d 305, 306 (Ala.1989), citing Kelley v. Dupree, 376 So.2d 1371 (Ala.1979). Workers' compensation immunity under Ala.Code 1975, § 25-5-53, is, as Wright argues, an affirmative defense. Bechtel v. Crown Cent. Petroleum Corp., 451 So.2d 793, 795 (Ala.1984). The hospital amended its original answer to add an affirmative defense of workers' compensation immunity, but Wright contended at trial and again before this Court that the hospital's failure to plead workers' compensation immunity in its original answer precluded the hospital from later amending its answer to include a § 25-5-53 defense. Wright argues that the hospital's delay in pleading the affirmative defense prejudiced her. Wright's argument is without merit. Rule 15(a), Ala.R.Civ.P., states: Unless a court has ordered otherwise, a party may amend a pleading without leave of court, but subject to disallowance on the court's own motion or a motion of an adverse party, at any time more than forty-two (42) days before the first setting of the case for trial, and such amendment shall be freely allowed when justice so requires. ... (Emphasis added.) Unlike parties attempting to amend under the federal version of Rule 15(a), an amending party in Alabama need not show good cause in order to amend its pleadings, as long as the amendment is filed more than [42] days before trial is first set. It is up to the party opposing the amendment to come forward, make a motion for disallowance of the amendment, and then demonstrate to the trial court that justice requires that the amendment be disallowed. The hospital's amendment adding a workers' compensation immunity defense was filed more than 42 days before the trial date set in this case. Wright had the heavy burden of proving that justice required that the hospital's amendment be disallowed. Wright asserted that she was prejudiced by the hospital's delay in filing the amendment because the statute of limitations for bringing a co-employee action against certain hospital employees had run before the amendment was filed. In essence, Wright argues that had she known that the hospital would raise this obviously dispositive affirmative defense of workers' compensation immunity she would have amended her complaint to add co-employee claims, which are not entirely subject to § 25-5-53. However, nothing prevented Wright from bringing any potential co-employee claims before the statute of limitations ran on those claims. If Wright was prejudiced, she was prejudiced by her own tactical decision not to assert her potential co-employee claims; BMH's delay in adding the affirmative defense was not the cause of Wright's decision not to assert the co-employee claims.