Hughes

The doctrine of workers’ compensation exclusivity is a frequent subject of judicial tweaking. Like the law of search and seizure, the variety of fact patterns seems never ending, and each variation presents yet another opportunity for judicial review. This time we examine whether a claimant may sue her employer’s insurance carrier in superior court for what amounts to the insurer’s purported mishandling of its lien on the claimant’s settlement with a third party tortfeasor. We conclude she may not and accordingly affirm the judgment of dismissal.

I. Background

As this appeal comes to us from a judgment of dismissal following the sustaining of a demurrer without leave to amend, we accept the material allegations of the complaint as true. (Aubry v. Tri-City Hospital Dist. (1992) 2 Cal.4th 962, 967 [ 9 Cal.Rptr.2d 92 , 831 P.2d 317 ].) The third amended complaint of appellant Michelle Hughes reveals the following: Hughes was an employee of Southern Auto Supply. Respondent Argonaut Insurance Company (Argonaut) provided workers’ compensation insurance to the employer. On December 8, 1997, while on the job, Hughes was in an automobile accident with a third party. Argonaut…