TAMPA — A Honduran woman has lost her case against Florida company Intergro over injuries sustained during a team-building rafting trip.
Carmen Elena Monteilh Chavarria filed a motion for summary judgment, which was denied after Intergro’s motion to dismiss was granted by the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida, Tampa Division.
Chavarria worked for Intergro in La Lima, Honduras. She claims the company was negligent in a team-building trip and that they did not pay her proper severance according to Honduran labor statute.
“Chavarria alleged that the defendants negligently selected a whitewater rafting trip as a company ‘team building exercise’ and negligently equipped Chavarria for the rafting trip,” Judge Steven D Merryday wrote in the court order.
The defendants filed a motion to a dismiss the severance claim and a motion for summary judgement on the negligence claim.
The court granted Intergro’s motion to dismiss. In addition, the breach of contract claim was dismissed. In turn, Chavarria’s motion for summary judgment was dismissed “as moot.”
According to Chavarria, doctors found a small stone in her eye after the rafting trip.
“Chavarria’s condition resulted in a series of surgeries, after which she received a diagnosis of 75 per cent vision loss in her right eye,” the court order stated.
About a year after the trip, Intergro terminated Chavarria’s employment.
In a July 2018 court order, it was concluded that “Chavarria ‘waives her right to assert that Honduran law governs her claims’ because Chavarria had repeatedly alleged that Florida common law governed her claims,” Judge Merryday wrote.
However, in an amended complaint, Chavarria claimed the employment contract was formed under Honduran law, the court order stated.
“Chavarria is free to establish that Honduran law inserted into her employment contract a term that requires severance compensation,” Judge Merryday noted.
As for the rafting trip, the court concluded it was the rafting company’s responsibility to arrange for proper gear for the trip.
The court order was issued on March 15.