The Plaintiff’s decedent was employed as an emergency medical services provider. When a fellow employee shocked her with cardiac defibrillator paddles, the decedent sustained injuries resulting in death. The decedent’s father qualified as administrator of her estate and filed suit against the fellow employee and decedent’s employer. On the motion of the defendants, the trial court held, as the decedent’s accident arose out of and in the course of her employment, the Plaintiff’s exclusive remedy was provided by the Virginia Workers Compensation Act, thus, dismissing the action. The Plaintiff was awarded an appeal by the Virginia Supreme Court.

In determining whether an injury that is sustained as a result of an assault arises out of the employment, the assailant’s subjective motives are irrelevant. Rather, an injury sustained from an assault arises out of the employment when it is directed at the victim as an employee or when the conditions under which the employer requires that the work be done are a contributing cause of the injury. In the case at bar, the Court found that the assault upon the decedent by her fellow employee was not as a result of the decedent’s status as an employee nor was there any causal connection between the employer’s workplace requirements and the risk of injury by assault. The Court held that the assault was purely personal and unconnected with the conditions of the employment. As such, the Court concluded that the decedent’s injury resulting from the assault did not arise out of her employment and the judgment of the trial court was reversed and remanded.