Mims v. FedEx Corporation

**What Happened:** A worker sued Alcoa Corporation claiming the company deliberately caused his injury at work. He argued that Alcoa knew he would definitely get hurt but failed to prevent it. This type of claim is called "deliberate injury" and goes beyond typical workplace accident cases. **What the Court Decided:** The court sided with Alcoa and dismissed the worker's lawsuit. The judge ruled that Washington state's workers' compensation system was the worker's only option for getting money for his injuries. The court found that the worker couldn't prove Alcoa actually knew for certain that he would be injured. Without this proof, the deliberate injury claim failed, and the exclusive remedy rule applied. **Why This Matters for Workers:** This ruling shows how difficult it can be to sue your employer directly for workplace injuries in Washington state. Workers' compensation is usually your only remedy, even when you believe your employer acted badly. To successfully sue an employer for deliberate injury, you must prove they had actual knowledge that injury was certain to happen—not just possible or likely. This sets a very high bar that protects most employers from lawsuits beyond workers' comp claims.