麻豆原创

A worker injured when he fell from a ladder is entitled to workers’ compensation benefits despite the fact he was intoxicated at the time of the accident.

An appellate court in New York has upheld a decision of the Workers’ Compensation Board in favor of an injured employee of an electrical contractor company because intoxication was not the sole cause of the accident.

The Supreme Court, Appellate Division (Third Judicial Department) noted that the state’s Workers’ Compensation Law provides a presumption of compensability for “disability or death from injury arising out of and in the course of employment without regard to fault as a cause of the injury, except when the injury has been solely occasioned by intoxication from alcohol.” The court further noted that intoxication being a contributory factor does not bar compensability and it is the insurance carrier’s “heavy burden” to overcome the presumption and establish that the intoxication was the sole cause of the accident.

While working alone and using a ladder to bring items down from an elevated height, the employee fell approximately eight feet to the floor, sustaining serious injuries. A toxicology screening performed at the hospital following the incident revealed that the claimant was severely intoxicated by alcohol at the time of his fall.

The employee’s claim was for work-related injury to the claimant’s neck, left shoulder, back, traumatic brain injury and post-concussion syndrome. The employer and workers’ compensation carrier denied the claim, asserting that the accident was caused solely by claimant’s intoxication and thus they were not liable for the claim. After the Workers’ Compensation Board ruled in the employee’s favor, they appealed.

The record showed that the employee was severely intoxicated at the time of the unwitnessed accident. In addition to his intoxication, however, the record established that other factors could have contributed to his fall. The employee testified that he was working on a ladder on the day of the accident bringing down holiday lights from a shelf. Usually two people would work together with one climbing and the other holding the ladder, but he was working alone because they were busy.

The worker testified that as he was descending the ladder with a heavy object in one hand, the ladder moved and fell on its side, causing him to fall to the floor. The employer’s general manager, who did not witness the accident, testified that a coworker reported that claimant was on the top of the second shelf, misplaced his foot and fell. Furthermore, a specialist in occupational medicine and medical toxicology, testified about the negative cognitive and physical impairments that result from a blood alcohol level as high as the claimant’s. He acknowledged, however, that an unsteady ladder or carrying something down a ladder increases the risk of and could contribute to falling, irrespective of alcohol impairment.

The court agreed with the board, finding that although intoxication may have contributed to the accident, the record reflects that claimant’s “fall can also be attributed to the absence of another employee holding the ladder, a simple misjudgment of footing, the lack of a safety railing on an elevated surface or the inherent risk of working at height.”

The court concluded that substantial evidence supported the board’s determination that the carrier did not rebut the presumption of compensability, and it declined to disturb the board’s decision allowing the claim.

Topics Workers' Compensation Talent