Work Outside Scope of Duties | Injuries Suffered During Horseplay or in a Work-Related Scuffle
Under the workers’ compensation law of New Jersey, an injured worker doesn’t need to establish that the employer was negligent in order to receive benefits. Because workers’ comp is essentially based on the concept of strict liability, a person needs to show only that they suffered an injury and that the injury was work-related.
In the first two blogs in this series, we looked at injuries that occur while a worker is on a break, injuries sustained while at a company social event, and injuries suffered while traveling for work. In this part, we’ll look at two more situations: injuries that occur when you’re doing something that’s not within your job description or while fooling around with a co-worker.
Injuries Suffered While Doing Something Outside Your Job Description
Suppose you’re a machine operator, but your boss asks you to climb a ladder to retrieve a tool or some materials. If you fall off the ladder, can you still recover workers’ comp benefits?
As a general rule, if your supervisor asks you to do something outside of the normal scope of your job, any injuries suffered will be covered by workers’ compensation. Conversely, if your employer has specifically instructed you not to do something outside your job description, but you do it anyway, your claim is likely to be denied. If you’re injured while doing something that your boss neither asked you to do nor specifically prohibited you from doing, you may or may not be eligible for benefits, depending on whether or not your actions were reasonable under the circumstances.
Injuries While Engaged in Horseplay
In most instances, if you’re injured during horseplay that you initiated, your claim will be denied. On the other hand, if you are somehow hurt by the horseplay of coworkers, even though you were not involved in the horseplay yourself, you should be able to recover benefits. ‘
In some instances, even though you initiated the horseplay, you may still be eligible for benefits. The workers’ compensation board will look at a number of factors:
- How serious was the horseplay, and how long did it go on?
- Was there a practice in the particular workplace of condoning or even encouraging horseplay? Was it an accepted part of the work environment?
- Was the horseplay objectively dangerous, or well outside the scope of employment?
- Did you stop what you were doing to participate in the horseplay?
- Did the nature of the employment reasonably encourage or lead to horseplay? Did you have a lot of idle time, for example?
Contact the Cintron Firm
At the Cintron Firm, LLC, we offer more than 14 years of experience to people in New Jersey facing a broad array of legal challenges. Attorney Mark Cintron has worked as a prosecutor and has extensive courtroom experience, so he’s always ready, willing, and able to protect your interests before a judge or jury. Contact our office online, or call us at 201-791-1333 or 917-494-5695 to set up an appointment.
