Hurt While Helping a Coworker
Reaching out to help a coworker in need is admirable, but if you are injured while doing it, you may not be covered under Illinois Workers’ Compensation. A recent case involving two coworkers on a lunch break highlighted that situation.
The two went out to a local restaurant for lunch while on a break from work, when the truck they were riding in wouldn’t start. One of them got out to help work on the battery, when the truck lurched forward and hit him. Because he was injured while trying to help a coworker during their work break, he tried to claim benefits under workers’ compensation, but was denied.
The act of helping someone else could fall within the category of the “good Samaritan” doctrine, which would allow for workers’ compensation benefits to cover an injury. But it is not enough to be just a good and helpful person coming to someone’s aid. For the purpose of workers’ compensation claims, your actions have to be the kind that your employer could foresee or anticipate; otherwise you were acting on your own and not in the course of your employment.
In this case, though it was a work-day lunch break, and he was aiding a fellow worker, there was no other connection to his employment. Their employer did not have any reason to anticipate that he would be trying to jump-start another’s truck. Also, they were on their own to choose the restaurant, they were parked in a parking lot that was open to everyone and not the employer’s property, and they were not in the process of doing something for their employer.
The argument was rejected that since the employer did not have a policy against helping with a coworker’s vehicle, and had not told employees not to do it, there must be some level of acceptance for what he did. Instead, it is basically the opposite: if there had been a policy saying that employees are expected or required to come to the aid of their coworkers; then the result may be different. In that scenario, the company policy would show that the employer anticipated and even expected that this could happen.
Similarly, if there was something special about the job or its location, that made it reasonable to expect that employees could need to come to someone’s rescue, the injury could be covered by workers’ compensation. In these situations, a departure from your usual job duties to help someone could be expected or foreseeable.
But in a situation where the good deed is done without any direction or control or expectation by your employer, likely it is also done at your own risk, and may not create an entitlement for workers’ compensation benefits.
We are workers' compensation attorneys that help people with Illinois work injuries anywhere in IL via our statewide network of attorneys. Contact us and we will answer your questions or find the right lawyer for your situation.
