Managing Employee Injuries and Disability and Occupational Safety

going home to inform wife that he would be working all night), firefighters 15 (volunteer firefighter killed en route to a scheduled drill), and police officers.

d. Work Outside Regular Duties Where employees are injured on the employer’s premises during regular working hours and while the employee is engaged in activities at the request of the employer, even if those activities are not a normal part of the job, any injury sustained would be compensable. Example: A secretary who was employed by a marine amusement park was asked to ride a killer whale for some publicity photos. She agreed and was bitten, sustaining serious injuries. The injuries were held to be compensable. 16 e. Unauthorized and Forbidden Activities If an employee violates instructions regarding the time, place or manner of performing the job, any injury incurred may not be compensable. If an employee is injured during a material deviation from assigned duties, he is not entitled to compensation benefits. The key issue is what constitutes a “material deviation.” The deviation must be so grave as to constitute an abandonment of the employment relationship. Mere technical violations of rules will not give rise to application of this exception. Even a serious violation does not always remove an employee from coverage. The distinction is between doing something that is entirely beyond the scope of the job responsibilities and doing an act within the scope of job duties in a forbidden manner. Doubts are often resolved in favor of the employee. An employee had the duty of bringing machine parts from the storeroom by hand in the event a regular driver was unavailable. He was expressly forbidden from driving. Instead of bringing the parts by hand, he drove and was injured while so doing. The injury was compensable, though reduced for misconduct. 17 An employee was accused of committing forgery and embezzlement by his employer. In the course of the investigation by his employer, he developed psychiatric symptoms. The employee was subsequently terminated and claimed that his psychiatric problems were a result of the investigation. The court held that the employee’s intentional and criminal misconduct constituted a material deviation, and hence took his conduct outside the course and scope of employment. 18 A police officer was investigated for allegedly making death threats to his wife. His claim for occupational stress was denied even though it arose directly from the department’s investigation of his misconduct, because the threats to his wife were clearly outside the course and scope of his employment. 19 An employee was injured in an automobile accident which resulted when he was attempting to elude a traffic officer while speeding during a trip for his employer. The court found the injury compensable and drew a distinction between deviating from the duties of his position, and performing those duties (i.e., the work related trip) in an unauthorized manner. 20 The following cases illustrate applications of this rule:

Managing Employee Injuries, Disability and Occupational Safety ©2019 (s) Liebert Cassidy Whitmore 22