Employer Wins Work Comp Dispute on Grounds Employee Violated Safety Rule
An appeals court held that an employee was not entitled to workers compensation benefits for the serious leg injury he sustained because he violated a known safety rule.
The Virginia Court of Appeals in Alexandria last week affirmed a state Workers Compensation Commission decision that an employee’s claims were barred because he failed to follow an enforced rule.
The employee worked as a team leader in a laundry plant in Virginia. The plant had a chain link fence surrounding dangerous machinery, and employees were instructed to enter through an interlock gate in the fence, which deactivated the machinery. The injured worker bypassed the interlock gate. His leg became pinned against a conveyer belt by a moving piece of machinery, and he suffered a serious injury.
The employee filed a claim for medical and disability benefits, which his employer rejected on the grounds he did not follow an enforced safety rule. A deputy commissioner found the employee’s action was the proximate cause of his injury and denied him benefits.
The employee requested a review by the commission, which unanimously affirmed the deputy commissioner’s ruling. He appealed, and the Virginia Court of Appeals affirmed the commission’s decision.
Although the employee argued about the consistent enforcement of the safety rule in question, several managers testified that the rule was enforced and that employees caught entering the fenced area without opening the gate to deenergize the equipment would be terminated. The appeals court found that credible evidence supported the commission’s factual findings that the employer enforced the known safety rule.
Source: Business Insurance