New York: Injury Crossing Public Street Near Work Premises Was Not Compensable

A New York employee who was struck by a car while crossing the street in front of his employer's work premises did not sustain an injury arising out of and in the course of the employment, held a state appellate court, affirming a finding by the state's Board. The employee had sought to utilize New York's so-called "gray area" rule, which holds that where, as here, one approaches his or her place of employment, there develops a “gray area,” in which the risks of street travel merge with the risks attendant with employment and where the mere fact that the accident took place on a public road or sidewalk will not, in and of itself, negate the employee's right to compensation. Here, however, the employee appeared at the worksite one hour ahead of his shift. He had not been approved to report that early and had not been approved for overtime. He faced the same risk as anyone else on the public street, said the court. Substantial evidence supported the Board's decision.

Thomas A. Robinson, J.D., the Feature National Columnist for the LexisNexis Workers’ Compensation eNewsletter, is co-author of Larson’s Workers’ Compensation Law (LexisNexis).

LexisNexis Online Subscribers: Citations below link to Lexis Advance.

See Matter of Johnson v. New York City Tr. Auth., 2020 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 2642 (3d Dept. Apr. 30, 2020)

See generally Larson’s Workers’ Compensation Law, § 13.01.

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

For a more detailed discussion of the case, see

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