N.Y. Court: Worker Injured on Break Entitled to Workers’ Comp Benefits
N.Y. Court: Worker Injured on Break Entitled to Workers’ Comp Benefits
A New York court has ruled that a worker taking a short break does not constitute an interruption of employment, thus a worker injured during such a break is still entitled to workers’ comp benefits.
The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York issued its decision last week in a case involving an injured auto salesman. The case is Richard Potter Jr. vs. VM Paolozzi Imports Inc.
In this case, the claimant was employed as an automobile salesperson when he was injured in an accident while driving his personal car during an authorized break, according to court documents.
During his scheduled shift, claimant requested and received permission from his supervisor to briefly leave work to go to pick up two spaghetti dinners for the employer’s finance manager and bring them back to the dealership. The finance manager had purchased the dinners as part of a fundraiser sponsored by a football team that claimant helped run on a voluntary basis.
http://www.insurancejournal.com/news/east/2012/01/11/230909.htm
