GOING TO LIBRARY AIN'T "SPECIAL ERRAND"
After she fell and injured herself in a public library’s parking lot, Arlene Gioia applied for workers’ compensation benefits.
Gioia, who worked as a private tutor for the Middletown School District, claimed that she was preparing for the day’s assignments and was at the library to conduct research.
In Matter of Gioia v Middletown School Dist., the Workers’ Compensation Board (WCB) ruled that because Gioia did not sustain her injuries in the course of her employment, her claim for benefits had to be denied.
On appeal, the Appellate Division, Third Department, affirmed the WCB’s decision.
While an injury suffered while traveling to and from work is usually non-compensable, there is an exception when the employee is engaged in a “special errand” for the employer. However, in order to qualify under that exception, the employer must have encouraged the errand and benefited from the employee’s performance.
According to the AD3, because she was unable to present any evidence that she was encouraged by her employer to use the public library for research or to do any outside preparation for her tutoring sessions, Gioia's visit to the library didn't comprise a “special errand.”
Not a happy ending for Ms. Gioia's. (Will there be another chapter to this story?)
To download a copy of the Appellate Division’s decision, please use this link: Matter of Gioia v Middletown School Dist.
TrackBack
TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.nyrealestatelawblog.com/mt/mt-tb.cgi/1884
Comments
The appellate division threw the book at her!
Posted by: Maria | March 19, 2008 10:32 AM
This is the last paragraph of the decision (cites omitted):
Here, there is no evidence in the record that the employer encouraged claimant to either use the public library for research or do any outside preparation for her tutoring assignments. To the contrary, claimant's testimony revealed that she decided to go to the library to do research of her own volition. Given the Board's wide latitude in determining whether a claimant was engaged in a special errand, we find that the Board's determination was supported by substantial evidence. We have considered claimant's remaining arguments and find them to be without merit.
I read it as an open invitation to anybody who works in NY to follow the advice of Homer Simpson:
No, no, no, Lisa. If adults don't like their jobs, they don't go on strike. They just go in every day and do it really half-assed. That's the American Way.
Posted by: W | March 21, 2008 5:02 PM