462 S.W.3d 783 (Mo. App. W. D. 2015)
Full Opinion: [Young v. Boone Electric Cooperative]
Code(s): 007 Accident; 030 Compensability
Factual
Background:
Claimant
was a lineman for an electrical company and his two work injuries were
consolidated in this Appeal. His first injury occurred when he was walking back
to his work truck to retrieve materials, stepped on a frozen dirt clod, and his
left knee buckled causing him to fall to the ground. The second injury occurred
at a later date while he was pulling himself into his work truck which was
twenty-seven inches off of the ground. As he was pulling himself up using
built-in handles, he felt a pop in his right shoulder and thereafter could not
raise his arm.
Commission Decision:
The
Commission affirmed the Administrative Law Judge’s award for benefits in both
injuries. The Employer appealed to the Court of Appeals arguing that the knee
injury did not arise out of Claimant’s employment. As to the second injury,
Employer argued the act of pulling himself into the truck did not constitute a
compensable accident.
Analysis/Holding:
As
to the left knee injury, the Court distinguished this case from the injuries in
Miller and Johme. The Court said that Miller
and Johme stand for the proposition
that an unexplained injury is not compensable merely because the injury
occurred at work. The Court found that Claimant stepped on the frozen dirt clod
because of his work activities placing him there, and it did not matter that he
experienced frozen dirt clods in his non-employment life. Regarding the right
shoulder injury, the Court relied on a plain meaning of “accident” and found
Claimant sustained an unusual strain which it deemed compensable.
The Court affirmed the decision of the Commission awarding benefits for both injuries.
The Takeaway:
The
Courts are still defining the issue of accident under the precedent established
under Miller and Johme. When assessing compensability of accidents, a good question
to consider is whether the worker was injured because he was at work as opposed
to becoming injured merely while he
was at work.