Judges said a dismissal came too soon - and the drinking-culture claim can now move forward
An Indiana appeals court revived a worker's suit accusing her employer of failing to protect her from a co-worker's alleged assault.
The case is a reminder: a motion to dismiss rarely ends an employer-negligence claim, and what happens on a work trip can reach the employer.
The worker started with the company, a contracted FedEx Ground delivery provider, in September 2023. She was sent to St. Louis on a "contingency team to take over delivery routes as needed," and stayed in housing the complaint said the employer controlled.
According to her amended complaint, a fellow employee - the brother of the company's owner - "aggressively and forcefully sexually assaulted and raped" her there after an evening out with coworkers. She alleged the company "deliberately and/or negligently cultivated and tolerated a workplace culture that normalized excessive drinking and emboldened inappropriate behavior among its employees."
She sued the employer - not the co-worker, who was not a party - for direct negligence and vicarious liability, claiming it failed to supervise, failed to warn of the co-worker's alleged dangerous propensities, and negligently hired and retained him.
The trial court threw the whole case out under Indiana's Rule 12(B)(6), which tests whether a complaint states a legally valid claim. On August 10, 2026, the Court of Appeals of Indiana reversed and sent the case back.
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