GQ Corner
Q. The employee is full time Bay Attendant. At the time of the incident, the claimant had been rinsing the walls of the washout area when he was seen on the floor passed out. The cause of the fall is fainting that resulted in head injury when he struck his head. The employer called 911 and claimant was transported to the hospital. This is second occurrence of fainting spell or syncope on 05/29/19. During this occurrence, the claimant struck his head and he was bleeding from his nose when he was taken away by EMS. Is this a compensable work event? We may not be on the hook for the syncope but are we on hook for his head injury with impact with the ground? Are we responsible for EMS/ER visit?
A. The head injury caused by hitting the floor is compensable. If he had to go to the hospital for that then that treatment is owed.
Q. Claimant is a traveling employee, on location in Florida to teach a leadership class for her employer. She brings her daughter on the trip with her. On 4/23/2019, after separating from her work related activities, she and her daughter decide to go to the beach for supper and the sunset. While walking to near the beach she steps on an uneven surface causing her to fall forward hitting her forehead on the pavement. She receive seven stiches and is currently fully recovered. I think this would be compensable, do you agree?
A. I do not think this is compensable. I believe the trip to the beach with her daughter is a significant deviation from the covered activities of the trip. The claimant is not furthering the affairs of the employer at the time she takes a personal side trip to the beach. If she was doing something related to the reason she was on the trip, maybe. However, this is a separation from her work activities and not part of what is generally considered to be a covered activity for work-related travel out of town. Those activities normally involve eating reasonably near the hotel or activities related to staying in the hotel. Other personal activities such as trips to sightsee, dinners across town because it’s a really great restaurant but there are 5 other reasonable places to eat near the hotel, may be considered to be deviations from serving the needs of the employer and are personal in nature.
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