MARYLAND: Worker's Compensation Is Not The Exclusive Remedy for Plaintiff's Negligent Hiring and Negligent Retention Claims

The Court of Appeals of Maryland recently held that the Maryland Worker’s Compensation Act does not bar the negligent hiring and negligent retention claims of a Plaintiff who says that her supervisor fired her for complaining that she was grabbed and kissed by a fellow employee.In the case of Ruffin Hotel Corporation of Maryland Inc. v. Gasper, C.A. No. 24, Sept. Term 2009, filed March 21, 2011, the Court of Appeals affirmed the Court of Special Appeals which had concluded that the trial court was in error in dismissing Plaintiff Gasper’s negligent hiring and negligent retention claims before trial on the basis that the Worker’s Compensation Commission was the exclusive forum in which those claims must be litigated.

Plaintiff Gasper worked for Ruffin Hotel Corp. Of Maryland Inc. which operated the Courtyard by Marriott in Gaithersburg-Lakeforest. Her lawsuit was premised on the contention that the general manager fired her after she complained that the front desk manager had pinned her against the wall and kissed her twice while she was at the front desk in January of 2005. Ms. Gasper filed suit in the Circuit Court for Montgomery County, Maryland seeking one million dollars in compensatory damages and punitive damages, and alleging employment discrimination, negligent hiring, negligent retention, sexual harassment, and retaliatory discharge. The trial court dismissed the negligent hiring and negligent retention claims before trial, ruling that they were covered by the exclusive remedy provisions of the Maryland Worker’s Compensation law. The case went to trial in 2007, and the verdict was for the Defendant. On appeal, the Court of Special Appeals reversed the dismissal of the negligent hiring and negligent retention claims. On March 21, 2011, the Court of Appeals affirmed, stating:

We reject the proposition that the General Assembly intended that the Worker’s Compensation Commission is the exclusive forum in which a negligent hiring/retention claim must be litigated whenever such a claim is asserted by an employee against his or her employer as a result of intentional and unlawful misconduct of a fellow employee.