Pennsylvania: Worker’s Injuries Sustained Just After Quitting Are Nonetheless Compensable

A worker who within a few minutes of quitting his job as a driver technician sustained injuries in a fall on his “former” employer’s premises, is entitled to workers’ compensation benefits according to a Pennsylvania appellate court. The worker, who had been on call all weekend, reported on Monday to receive his daily itinerary. Reviewing the list, he objected to his manager, indicating it would take him past midnight to complete the assignments. When the manager refused to modify the schedule, the worker turned in his keys and phone. He was escorted to his truck in order to remove his personal belongings. After removing the items as directed, the worker tripped over a pallet jack while walking to the employer’s warehouse. Noting that the manager observed the fall, the court indicated in relevant part that at the time of the injury, the worker was furthering an employer’s interests while on the employer’s premises. Although the worker quit before he was injured, he was still within the scope of employment because he was acting at the employer’s direction.

Thomas A. Robinson, J.D., the Feature National Columnist for the LexisNexis Workers’ Compensation eNewsletter, is a leading commentator and expert on the law of workers’ compensation.

LexisNexis Online Subscribers: Citations below link to Lexis Advance. Bracketed citations link to lexis.com.

See Marazas v. Workers’ Comp. Appeal Bd. (Vitas Healthcare Corp.), 2014 Pa. Commw. LEXIS 405 (Aug. 11, 2014) [2014 Pa. Commw. LEXIS 405 (Aug. 11, 2014)]

See generally Larson’s Workers’ Compensation Law, § 26.01 [26.01]

Source: Larson’s Workers’ Compensation Law, the nation’s leading authority on workers’ compensation law.

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