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Friday, May 08, 2009
Injury That Occurs While Buying Cake May Be Compensable
If an employee injures themself while doing personal activities while at work, is that covered by Worker's Compensation? The California Court of Appeal says that it is.
A Costco employee purchased a cake at Costco for her sister. When she went to the Costco bakery to picked up the cake, she slipped and fell injuring herself. Costco denied reimbursement for her knee surgery, on the basis that she was engaged in a personal activity not a work related activity.
Risk & Insurance magazine reported on the court decision, saying:
"The court determined that retrieving the cake was more than a personal convenience. The claimant was simultaneously providing a financial benefit to the store in furtherance of the store's business activities. The court stated that according to the state's "dual purpose doctrine" when an employee combines her own business with that of the employer or attends to both at substantially the same time, the court will not make an inquiry into which business the employee was actually engaged in at the time of injury, unless it clearly appears that neither could be serving the employer."
Read the complete article.
A Costco employee purchased a cake at Costco for her sister. When she went to the Costco bakery to picked up the cake, she slipped and fell injuring herself. Costco denied reimbursement for her knee surgery, on the basis that she was engaged in a personal activity not a work related activity.
Risk & Insurance magazine reported on the court decision, saying:
"The court determined that retrieving the cake was more than a personal convenience. The claimant was simultaneously providing a financial benefit to the store in furtherance of the store's business activities. The court stated that according to the state's "dual purpose doctrine" when an employee combines her own business with that of the employer or attends to both at substantially the same time, the court will not make an inquiry into which business the employee was actually engaged in at the time of injury, unless it clearly appears that neither could be serving the employer."
Read the complete article.
Labels: employment, Workers' Comp
posted by Steve Hudgik |
Workplace Safety Post 1 Comments |
1 Comments:
That is some really gray area but I think many attorney wouldn't mind taking this case on.
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