Western Express Driver’s Groping Backs Assault Claim by Trainee

Western Express Inc. must face a former employee’s claim that sexual harassment she experienced while training for a driving position constituted assault and battery under Tennessee law, a Nashville federal judge ruled.

The tort law claim wasn’t barred by the exclusive remedy provisions of the Tennessee Workers’ Compensation Act, the US District Court of the Middle District of Tennessee said, denying in part a defense motion to dismiss. TWCA exclusivity only applies when the act complained of arises out of a worker’s employment, the court said.

The Tennessee Supreme Court held in 1999 that sexual harassment is “purely personal in ...