Washington: Blood Alcohol Test Supports Finding of Intoxication

A Washington jury could appropriately determine that at the time of a worker's injury, he was so intoxicated that he had abandoned his employment, where evidence indicated the worker's blood alcohol level was substantially above the legal limit, held a state appellate court. Other evidence tended to show that the worker had consumed alcohol during his lunch break and had driven a vehicle erratically prior to his return to work after lunch. The court disregarded the worker's argument that the Workers' Compensation Act was to be liberally construed in his favor. Such a construction did not relieve the worker of proving his entitlement to benefits.

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 Gomez v. Department of Labor & Indus., 2020 Wash. App. LEXIS 1211 (Apr. 27, 2020)

See generally Larson’s Workers’ Compensation Law, § 36.02.

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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