Sanchez v. Dade County School Bd.

784 So. 2d 1172, 2001 Fla. App. LEXIS 4015, 2001 WL 293692

• Court: District Court of Appeal of Florida
• Decided: March 28, 2001
• Docket: 3D00-1718
• Status: Published

Opinion

784 So.2d 1172 (2001)

Caridad SANCHEZ, et al., Appellants,
v.
DADE COUNTY SCHOOL BOARD, etc., Appellee.

No. 3D00-1718.

District Court of Appeal of Florida, Third District.

March 28, 2001. Rehearing Denied May 30, 2001.

Jack L. Herskowitz, and Jon Herskowitz, Miami; and Dorothy F. Easley, Coral Gables, for appellants.

Pyszka, Blackmon, Levy & Mowers, Miami Lakes, and Cindy J. Mishcon, for appellee.

Before LEVY, GREEN, and RAMIREZ, JJ.

Rehearing En Banc Denied May 30, 2001.

PER CURIAM.

Caridad Sanchez, a middle school teacher, sued the Dade County School Board for negligence after she was sexually assaulted and beaten during her lunch period by a trespasser in the teachers' parking lot. The trial court granted summary judgment in favor of the School Board based on its workers' compensation immunity. We agree that by accepting workers' compensation benefits, Sanchez was precluded from asserting a tort claim against her employer. See § 440.11, Fla. Stat. (1999). We recently held in Dade County Sch. Bd. v. Laing, 731 So.2d 19 (Fla. 3d DCA 1999) that the "unrelated works" exception to workers' compensation immunity did not apply between a teacher and a custodian. "The fact that employees have different duties does not necessarily mean they are involved in `unrelated works.'... Because both were engaged in activities primarily related to the provision of education related services, the `unrelated works' exception to the School Board's immunity under Section 440.11(1) does not apply." Id. at 20. We see no distinction between the teacher-custodian relationship in Laing and the teacher-security personnel relationship in this case.

We therefore affirm.