Member Accolade: Bob Mansbach

**As of June 25, Bob Mansbach was elected chairperson of the Florida Bar Trial Lawyers' Section's Executive Council, the governing body for the roughly 7,000 members of the section.**

Mr. Mansbach recently obtained a summary judgment last week for his client, IDS (Industrial Diversified Services), a welding contractor, in an action filed against IDS and the owner of a building that was the site of a fire that caused burns which led to the death of IDS welder. His client employed the welder, and provided Workers' Compensation benefits, but was sued in a civil action for IDS' role in causing the accident. To pierce the workers' comp exclusive remedy, the plaintiff must show that the employer engaged in conduct that was either intentional, or was conduct that our statute calls "virtually certain" to result in injury or death to the employee. The judge found that the employer was certainly involved in conduct which could be described as negligent, but we were able to show that mere negligence, such as knowledge of little "mini-fires" that occurred in the prior 2 days was not enough to make this virtually certain. The plaintiff's action remains pending against the owner of the building.