Managing Employee Injuries and Disability and Occupational Safety

2. P RE -E XISTING C ONDITIONS It is not uncommon for employees to bring pre-existing medical problems to the work place. The difficulty posed in this area stems from the fact that pre-existing medical problems constitute personal risks which would fall outside of coverage. However, if an employee is able to demonstrate that the employment exacerbated or aggravated a pre-existing medical problem, then recovery may be permitted. The employee must establish through expert medical evidence the fact of the aggravation and a causal connection between the employment and the claimed injury. 3. H ORSEPLAY Frequently injuries occur in the work place as a result of horseplay. There is little difficulty in providing coverage for a non-participant who is injured; such an injury is viewed as being within the scope of employment. California has long followed the general rule that participants have no claim for injuries so received. However, one court has made an exception where the horseplay is closely connected with the employment and is actually or apparently condoned by the employer. 5

This case emphasizes the importance that employee discipline may play in avoiding liability for injuries that result from horseplay. If there is a prior record of discipline, the employer may point to that as evidence that it does not condone horseplay.

LCW Practice Advisor

C. C OURSE OF E MPLOYMENT

The Act provides that an injury, to be compensable, must arise when the employee is performing service growing out of and incidental to his employment. Labor Code Section 3600a(2). Generally, this condition is met when the employee is on the premises where he works and performing acts within the scope of his duties, in conformity with directions of the employer. The “in the course of” requirement refers to the necessity for a sufficiently close relationship between one’s employment and one’s injury. This inquiry focuses on considerations of time, place, and circumstances, as they relate to one’s employment. The issue is one of causal connection between one’s employment and injury.

Under this general test, the employee will ordinarily be held to be outside the course of employment:

 When he is not on the employer’s premises,

 Where the activity is personal and not related to his employment,

 Where his acts are outside the scope of the job duties, and

 Where the employer’s instructions have been violated.

Managing Employee Injuries, Disability and Occupational Safety ©2019 (s) Liebert Cassidy Whitmore 19