Opinion ID: 449291
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Whether Plaintiff Has a Cause of Action Against ACC and ICNA

Text: 11 Plaintiff sued ACC and ICNA, alleging that their willful and intentional failure pay him income benefits to which he was entitled caused him to lose his home and suffer marital and other difficulties. The district court ruled that plaintiff had no cause of action against ACC and ICNA, and granted summary judgment in favor of both defendants. 12 On appeal, we determined that this issue presented an important unresolved question of Georgia law: Whether Georgia recognizes an independent cause of action apart from the remedies available under O.C.G.A. Sec. 34-9-221(e) where an employer and/or insurer have intentionally delayed Workers' Compensation payments to which the employee is entitled under the Act and where they have not properly complied with the Act's requirements. We certified this question to the Georgia Supreme Court, which answered the question in the negative. See Bright v. Nimmo, 253 Ga. 378, 320 S.E.2d 365, 368 (1984) (reproduced as Appendix A, infra ). We therefore hold that ACC and ICNA are entitled to judgment as a matter of law, and we affirm the district court's grant of summary judgment in favor of both defendants. 13