Morales v. Reynolds

1 The two cases on appeal here present an opportunity to examine the standard announced in Delgado v. Phelps Dodge Chino, Inc., 2001-NMSC-034, 131 N.M. 272, 34 P.3d 1148, which expanded the set of circumstances under which a worker may pursue an independent tort action outside of the exclusivity provision of the Workers Compensation Act (the Act), NMSA 1978, § 52-1-9 (1973). We hold that neither of these cases meets the requirements of the test set forth in Delgado, 2001-NMSC-034, 26. We consolidate the cases and affirm both district court decisions in favor of Defendants.