Horseplay or Assault? The Thin Line of Intent
Joe Smith and Mary Jones are “horsing around” at work. Joe takes it a bit too far and Mary sustains an injury. Is Mary’s injury compensable? It is not necessarily a common fact pattern, but it happens – – an employee is injured due to the actions of a fellow co-worker. The Commission has, historically, endeavored to separate these injuries into two categories: (1) those sustained as a result of horseplay, and (2) those sustained as a result of assault. The distinction is crucial to understanding a claimant’s burden of proof in these cases. For assault cases between two co-workers,...
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