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Hit By a Car During Job-Related Travel - Worker's Compensation Eligibility

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  • 11-30-2007, 07:43 PM
    rwvjr
    Hit By a Car During Job-Related Travel - Worker's Compensation Eligibility
    My employer is based in Mobile, AL. I am based out of Beverly, MA. I was working in New York, NY. Finished assignment and was walking back to hotel from job site when I was hit from behind by a car coming up on sideway. I was two blocks from the job site and 8 blocks from my hotel. Am I eligible for Workman's Comp Insurance benefits. I think that I am on duty working from the time I leave my home to when I return.
  • 12-02-2007, 11:27 AM
    Mr. Knowitall
    Re: Hit By a Car During Job-Related Travel - Worker's Compensation Eligibility
    When you say you are "based out of" Massachusetts, what exactly does that mean? Do you work alone, out of your house, or do you actually go to an office in Massachusetts? Have you made a worker's compensation claim yet, and if so through what state?
  • 12-03-2007, 08:22 AM
    rwvjr
    Re: Hit By a Car During Job-Related Travel - Worker's Compensation Eligibility
    I work alone out of my home as a salaried employee of a company based in Mobile, AL. I am a field engineer working for clients in the Northeast United States. My job percentage of travel is 100%.
    I have filed a claim with the companies workman's comp insurance provider. The claim is made through the state of AL (employers state of operation) and with an insurance company in Atlanta, GA.
  • 12-03-2007, 09:02 AM
    Mr. Knowitall
    Re: Hit By a Car During Job-Related Travel - Worker's Compensation Eligibility
    I don't see any controlling authority (although this is something I would expect an Alabama worker's compensation lawyer to be able to explain for you). Alabama seems to have a narrow rule for when injuries outside of the workplace fall under worker's compensation,
    Quote:

    Quoting Terry v. NTN-Bower Corp., 615 So. 2d at 631 (citations omitted)
    Such exceptions include situations where the employer furnishes the employee transportation or reimburses him for his travel expenses; where the accident occurs on the employer's property or on public property that is tantamount to the employee's ingress to and egress from the employer's property; or where the employee is injured crossing a public street between the main premises of the employer and the parking lot owned by the employer.

    That doesn't seem promising, but your situation is a bit different in that you were in some sense on a continuous business trip as opposed to simply walking from one place of work to what might be deemed another.

    Another issue, though, is that your claim may be subject to Massachusetts laws, as that seems to be where you performed your job duties. Massachusetts seems more promising in that, for traveling employees, they appear to include under worker's compensation "travel clearly impelled by the nature and conditions of the employment." Frassa v. Caulfield, 22 Mass. App. Ct. 105, 110, 113, 491 N.E.2d 657 (1986). You had to go to the job site; you reasonably had to go to the hotel afterward, and you apparently didn't stop on the way to perform any personal errands (let alone any which would be a substantial deviation from your work duties).

    Assuming they were at fault, you can, of course, bring a personal injury claim against the driver of the car that hit you.
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