Compensation for injuries arising out of horseplay. Generally, innocent victims can collect, but many states deny benefits to those who initiate horseplay. Occasionally, however, initiators are able to collect. Here’s a case where that happened.
Compensation for injuries arising out of horseplay. Generally, innocent victims can collect, but many states deny benefits to those who initiate horseplay. Occasionally, however, initiators are able to collect. Here’s a case where that happened.
The horseplay initiator in this case was a bakery employee whose job was to move bread racks in and out of the bread cooler. During the shift, the floor in his work area became greasy, wet, and slippery. The employer provided employees in this area with special work shoes to help prevent slips and falls.
One day while working, the employee and a co-worker across the room were exchanging mock insults. At one point during the conversation, the worker lifted his leg as if to give his co-worker a karate kick. Being 10 feet away, the co-worker was in no danger.
But as it turned out the employee who threw the kick was. He slipped and fell hard, sustaining a sprained wrist and a hernia.
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Case Goes to Court
When the employee filed for workers’ comp benefits, the employer’s position was, You’ve got to be kidding! And the workers’ comp board agreed.
But the employee appealed the decision and got a different result in the state court of appeals.
The court ruled that the horseplay in this case did not constitute an “extensive or serious deviation” from the worker’s job duties. The horseplay was minor and the employee never really stopped doing his job during the incident. The court also pointed out that the accident was caused at least in part by an unsafe condition—slippery floors.
The result might have been different if the employee had left his workstation and walked over to his co-worker to throw the kick, and then slipped and fell. It also might have been different in a different state and a different court.
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The Message
The important message in this case is not to wait for horseplay to cause safety problems and injuries in your workplace. Take preventive action now.
- Explain your policy prohibiting horseplay anywhere in the workplace. Don’t just say, “Don’t.” Also say why—“Somebody could get hurt, and it could be you.”
- Enforce your policy consistently. Don’t overlook any incident, no matter how insignificant or whether anybody gets hurt or not. Also don’t be reluctant to use progressive discipline to deal with horseplay. The behavior in this case may not seem like a big problem, but look what a costly mess it caused for the employer.
- Don’t ignore complaints from employees. Usually, the problem is that witnesses and victims don’t report horseplay. But if somebody does, investigate. Also encourage employees to speak up about horseplay—to the instigators directly, to you, or both.
- Take a second look. Even if you think you don’t have a horseplay problem, think again, especially if you employ spirited young male workers. Make some unscheduled visits to work areas. You might be surprised at what you see. Fooling around on the job happens even in the most well-managed and well-behaved workplaces.