Lawsuit Dismissal Refused in Officer's Wrongful Death Case

By Merylee Robbins

Published on October 12, 2005

Three prisoners performing construction work at the correctional facility in Charlotte County killed correctional officer Darla Lathrem in April 2002 during an attempted prison escape. She was bludgeoned to death with a sledgehammer and died along with attacked prisoner Charles Fuston, from fatal traumatic brain injuries.

The DOC claimed that Lathrem's suit be dismissed on the grounds that the death is a workers' compensation issue and the state has immunity from suits of that nature. It is true that Florida statutes do give worker's compensation immunity to the employer from lawsuits by employees, however if the employer's conduct creates a substantial certainty for injury or death the employer can be sued.

In this case, Lathrem was assigned to supervise the five prisoners by herself who were all convicted of violent crimes and had access to a variety to dangerous tools. According to DOC policy there should have been another supervising officer with Lathrem and she also should have been equipped with a body alarm in case a dangerous situation arose. Due to the DOC's apparent disregard for their own employee safety policies and the direct correlation of the DOC's negligence to Lathrem's death, Judge Anderson chose to allow the lawsuit to proceed. The lawsuit is seeking damages in excess of $15,000.

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