Arizona Waitress Unable to Show Injury Occurred in Course of Employment
An Arizona Court of Appeals ruled against a waitress' claim for workers' compensation benefits for an injury she sustained while jumping a fence to return to work after taking a break.

December 30, 2011 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Arizona Waitress Unable to Show Injury Occurred in Course of Employment

In September 2011 the Arizona Court of Appeals issued a decision in a case about whether a waitress' injury was in the course of her employment. The case demonstrates how the court decides whether an injury qualifies for workers' compensation benefits.

Compensable Injuries

In order to collect workers' compensation benefits in Arizona, an employee must show two things:
-The injury occurred "in the course of" the worker's employment
-The injury "arose out of" the worker's employment


This means the worker must show he or she was on the job and doing job-related activities when the injury happened.

Details of the Claim

Mary Shaydak worked as a waitress at the Turquoise Valley Golf and RV Park. On a particularly cold day, she decided to bring her two dogs with her to work, believing that the dogs would be warmer in her car rather than outside at her home. She got permission from her manager to check on the dogs twice during the work day; once in the morning and once at about 1:30 pm.

When Shaydak was returning to work after checking on the dogs in the afternoon, she decided to scale a fence surrounding the parking lot to get back to the building, rather than follow a path, in an effort to save time. Shaydak fell and seriously injured her knee, which eventually required surgery.

Shaydak made a claim for workers' compensation benefits, which the Industrial Commission denied. Shaydak appealed the decision, and an administrative law judge upheld the denial of benefits. Shaydak appealed to the Court of Appeals, arguing that even though she was not engaged in job-related activities at the time of her injury, her actions fell under the employee personal comfort doctrine so she should receive benefits.

The Court's Reasoning

The court upheld the lower courts' rulings against Shaydak. The court acknowledged that the employee comfort doctrine said that employees remain "in the course" of employment while doing things that enhance their comfort, such as taking bathroom breaks, making brief telephone calls or eating. The court added that an employee may act "so unreasonably" when attending to personal comfort that the employee creates an unreasonable risk of injury and any injuries that result are not compensable under the workers' compensation system.

In this case, the court held that Shaydak's decision to jump over the fence was unreasonable, and therefore removed her from the course of employment so she could not receive workers' compensation benefits.

The workers' compensation system can be complicated and whether an employee recovers benefits for an on-the-job injury can hinge on whether the employee can show that he or she was working when the injury happened. If you have been injured at work and are having trouble collecting workers' compensation benefits, do not hesitate to contact an experienced workers' compensation attorney who can help you obtain just and proper compensation for your injuries.

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