Can she get workers' comp for fist fight injuries?

Can she get workers’ comp for fist fight injuries?

July 23, 2012 by Fred Hosier

Posted in: In this week's e-newsletter, Injuries, new court decision, Special Report, Stupid human safety tricks, Workers' comp

An employee was injured when she got into a fist fight while on a workplace shuttle bus. Can she get workers’ comp benefits for her injuries?

Ann Belaska was a clerk for the New York State Department of Law.

In September 2009, she was involved in a fist fight with another passenger on a shuttle bus to ride to a satellite parking lot.

At the end of the bus ride, a passenger tried to exit before Belaska who told the other rider to let her go first because of her disabilities. When the other passenger became frustrated because Belaska wasn’t getting off the bus fast enough, they got into a verbal spat which turned into the fist fight, resulting in Belaska’s injuries.

Belaska suffered injuries to her chest, neck and shoulder and sought workers’ compensation benefits for her physical injuries as well as for post traumatic stress disorder.

Her employer’s insurance carrier denied her claim. The Workers’ Compensation Board agreed with the insurance company and ruled the injuries did not arise out of Belaska’s employment.

Belaska took her case to a state appeals court.

Was it ‘personal animosity?’

The appeals court noted previous case law established that:

“injuries stemming from an assault which arose in the course of employment are presumed to have arisen out of the employment unless substantial evidence is presented that the assault was motivated by purely personal animosity.”

Belaska said she had never before met the person who assaulted her.

Given that fact, the court said the assault arose from personal hostilities unrelated to her job.

The appeals court agreed Belaska should not get workers’ comp benefits for her injuries that resulted from the assault.

Given the court’s ruling, other types of assaults would be covered. For example:

a store clerk beaten in a robbery, and
a hospital worker assaulted by an out-of-control patient.

Has your company ever had a workers’ comp claim because of a physical fight involving an employee? Let us know about it in the comments below.

(Belaska v. New York State Department of Law, Appellate Div. of NY Supreme Court, No. 513147 6/21/12)

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Tags: fist fight, in the course of employment, injuries from an assault, Workers' comp

http://tcid.org Kate

I know that this is an old thread, but I thought I would add some follow up to the truck dirver fist fight, that was denied workmans comp. I appealed the denial, the carrier paid the emergency room bill, but kept the denial on the record. I’m not sure if that is a good thing or a bad thing. For the employer, it is good becauase the claim is paid and the claim is not reported on our loss runs. However, does that mean that any other cliams similar to this will be denied as well? I certainly hope that we don’t have anymore fist fights between employees but who knows when wrestlemania will break out because employees are hot and frustrated with conditions beyond their control.
alecfinn

Strikes me as silly you try to hurry a disabled person who at their request you let go first?
If you are in that much of a rush do not let anyone in front of you………. just be polite.

The other examples

A store clerk beaten in a robbery, and a hospital worker assaulted by an out-of-control patient.
Yes they were both doing their job and on the clock
Papaw

Dang it!
Even after iI re-read it I still let a typo get through.
Papaw

Maybe this wasn’t filed right. Perhaps the ADA should have been her recourse because the company is required to make adequate accommodations. Maybe adequate accommodations could be resolved through signage, special seating or even training to the bus drivers to allow persons with a disability to exit first. What happened to courtesy and chivalry? A dcertain generation was raised to be thoughtful of others less fortunate, no matter how big a pain in the @#$ they were. Just saying…
Angela

Wow Kate, I think that one should have been accepted.

We had a driver out making deliveries. He stopped to get gas and use the rest room and was mugged. We are paying comp. There was no question on this one. We had another where one employee pulled on another employees arm while they were driving back from their deliveries for the day. We are paying comp on that one too. The employee that grabbed the injured employee no longer works for us.

As for Miss Belaska, why would her disability allow her to go first? Example: When we get off a plane, the people who need addititonal assistance get off last. They are usually first to board. Dont get me wrong; I am all for letting people with disabilities go first. As for her “attacker”; she should know better. I think the courts got this one right.
http://tcid.org Kate

Yes, we had two employees get into a fight on the work site. One operator jumped into another driver’s truck and turn off the ignition while telling him that if he wasn’t going to do his job right, he wasn’t going to drive the truck. The truck driver was greatly offended and hit the guy in eye three times sending him to the emergency room. His workmans comp claim was denied by the carrier/
Pat T

Oops! Thanks for the clarification all!! Apologies to Tim!! Next time I will definitely pay attention!
Robert

Never had a claim arising out of a fight, and I can’t see how this woman’s injuries could be considered a direct result of her employment. I don’t know exactly how the confrontation evolved, but considering that she “told the other rider to let her go first” I would submit that her own attitude may have played a significant part.
Penny C

Pat T, Tim was answering the question, “Has your company ever had a worker’s comp claim because of a physical fight?” And just today in the news, an altercation in an Arkansas workplace has led to a murder. It’s a perfect time to retrain employees on your workplace violence policy and conflict resolution resources, folks.
Willy

Hi Pat T, Tim wasn’t mistaken with his comment. He was answering the question at the end of the article that the editor posted as I did before I commented. You must not have read the whole thing.
Sam L

Pat,

Above it asks “Has your company ever had a workers’ comp claim because of a physical fight involving an employee? Let us know about it in the comments below.”

I believe that is what Tim was commenting on.
Pat T

Tim, you’re obviously mistaking this case with another ….. “fight was over the issue of one employee not paying up on a bet”???

Anyway, the courts were right in this ruling as well as the appeal. The crucial fact that she wasn’t on the clock coupled with the injury didn’t happen during the course of her employment.
Tim

Yes, The fight was over the issue of one employee not paying up on a bet. It was a verbal issue for several days and then came to a head. The employee who failed to pay the bet, started the fight and got his nose broken. He is currently on long-term medications due to mental stress and anguish. The fight took place in 2001 and we still see the reports and bills.
Willy

To answer the question, NO. But if the employee was on the clock and got involved in a fistfight without motivating it they would be entitled to WC.

In this case it doesn’t clearly state who started the physical part of the fight. I feel because Miss Belaska didn’t have the other arrested for assault makes me think she started it and because she was injured felt someone else should pay. Just because a person is disabled doesn’t mean they have the right to put their hands on someone else IF indeed she did.