GQ Corner
Q. The claimant was working inside a store on 02/25/2019 when two young boys ran into the store asking for help, stating their uncle was outside and having trouble breathing. She ran outside where she found the man slumped over in his vehicle hanging out as though he had been trying to get out of his vehicle. The claimant dialed 911 and Dispatch talked her through what to do. She bent down and began to pull the man out of the car to lay him on the ground and in doing so she suffered a strain to her left knee. She stated he was overweight and she felt immediate pain as she twisted her body with her knees bent to get him out of the vehicle and lay him on the ground. She then knelt beside him to perform CPR until EMS arrived.
While she was not performing the usual tasks of her job description, she was responding to the aid of a customer in the parking lot of her employment. Is this a compensable injury?
A. I think the question we need to ask and answer is whether helping a customer (was he even a customer?) in the parking lot furthers the work of the employer. I suppose you could argue the claimant’s actions breed good will towards the customer. I’m inclined to think this is not compensable because I don’t think the claimant was furthering the work of the employer by helping someone in the parking lot, however admirable and selfless her actions may have been. The question is, however, a closer question if the person the claimant is helping is a customer in the store.
Our analysis is supported by Texas Division of Workers’ Compensation Appeals Panel Decision No. 042167. In that case, the Appeals Panel affirmed findings that the claimant was not in the course and scope of his employment when he was injured after he stopped his truck to render aid to the driver of another truck. The Appeals Panel stated that there was no evidence that the claimant was performing any action that he thought was necessary for the purpose of advancing his employer’s interests. See Texas Employers’ Insurance Association v. Thomas, 415 S.W. 2d 18; see also Appeal 030959 concerning an employer’s expectation that employees would stop and render assistance on the road.
Q. I have a claimant who suffered a very significant burn injury. She will require the use of over the counter sun screen for the rest of her life. As long as we have a prescription from her treating physician, this would be covered under her claim, correct?
A. Correct.
FOLIO
