CHESAPEAKE, Va. — A year after the deadly mass shooting at a Chesapeake Walmart, two of the five lawsuits filed in response remain active.
The other three have been dismissed, according to court records.
Briana Tyler's case is one of cases to remain active. Tyler was working that night and has said she was narrowly shot.
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Chesapeake judge hears arguments in Walmart v. 2022 shooting survivor
"I looked up and my manager turned around and he just opened fire on everybody in the break room," Tyler said in the aftermath of the shooting. "It is by the grace of God that a bullet missed."
In her case, a judge is poised to rule part of her case can continue, including that Walmart was negligent in not firing the shooter prior to the incident.
The judge has not finalized the order yet, but indicated part of Tyler's case can progress despite Walmart's claims it should be covered by workers compensation.
The other case that remains active was filed in September and is still working its way through the court system.
Walmart has argued the cases fall under workers compensation and thus are not eligible for damages in a lawsuit.
Tyler's suit is seeking $50 million.
Watch previous coverage: Chesapeake judge hears arguments in Walmart v. Briana Tyler, 2022 shooting survivor
News 3 spoke with University of Virginia School of Law Professor Rip Verkerke, who teaches employment law, about the lawsuits and whether it's an uphill battle for plaintiffs to prove cases are exceptions from workers compensation.
"Yes, I think that is certainly what prior precedent suggests," he responded.
"Violent assaults - in general courts have held to be within the workers compensation system," said Verkerke.
The issue also has come up in the case of the Newport News teacher who police say was shot by a six year old student earlier this year.
A judge recently ruled Abby Zwerner's lawsuitcan proceed despite the School Board's attorneys arguing it should be considered workers compensation.
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Ex-Walmart employee sues corp., claims negligence before Chesapeake shooting
In Virginia, one way to get around workers compensation is to say an incident was a personal attack, which Tyler's attorney argued in court earlier this month, saying the shooter specifically shot at Tyler and missed.
Verkerke says courts have generally looked outside the office place for this argument.
"The kind of personal assault that courts have been looking for is one that seems to be not connected to the work that would usually arise out of a personal relationship that extended outside of the workplace," he said.
As a year after the shooting, the fallout is still playing out in court.
