from her injuries. Her Estate brought a lawsuit against the Defendant co-worker, her employer and others, seeking damages for her personal injuries and wrongful death.

Applying the actual risk test to the Hilton case, the Supreme Court of Virginia reasoned that the assault on the victim had no relationship with her status as an employee.  Whether intended as flirtatious, merely playful, or as harassment, the assault was purely personal and thus the resulting injury and death did not “arise out of the employment” under Virginia Code section § 65.2-101. The judgment for the employer barring the decedent’s claim was reversed and the case was remanded for further proceedings.  As one of “The Best Lawyers in America,” Doug Landau tries to follow important cases that will have an impact on his clients and their families.  The Virginia Trial Lawyer is interested to see what happens to this case on remand, once it returns to the the Trial Court.