Tenn. Court Finds Mold Wrongful Death Claim Barred by Workers’ Comp Statute

JACKSON, Tenn. — Tennessee’s Court of Appeals has affirmed dismissal of a wrongful death action brought by the daughters of a school janitor who allegedly succumbed to a mold-related illness, saying the allegations of workplace exposure are barred by the workers’ compensation act.

The intermediate appellate court found no evidence of actual intent on the part of the deceased woman’s employer or county officials that would allow for tort claims outside the statute.

In a lawsuit filed in the Circuit Court for Weakley County in 2011, Celia Moody Rodgers and Sherry Moody Gonzalez maintained that their mother, Joan Lois Moody, …