Aggressively Fighting For Your Rights

  1. Home
  2.  » 
  3. Workers' Compensation
  4.  » DETERMINING IF YOUR INJURY IS WORK-RELATED–PART TWO

DETERMINING IF YOUR INJURY IS WORK-RELATED–PART TWO

On Behalf of | Mar 16, 2017 | Workers' Compensation

To recover workers’ compensation benefits in New Jersey, you must demonstrate that you were hurt and that the injury occurred while you in the normal course of your employment. We’ve discussed whether you can seek workers’ compensation benefits for injuries suffered on a break or while traveling. This blog looks at your rights when you are injured at company event, or as a consequence of misconduct.

Injury-is-Work-Related-300x200.jpg

INJURIES SUSTAINED AT A COMPANY EVENT

Suppose your employer has a company event-a golf outing or some team building activity-and you suffer an injury while participating. As a general rule, you will meet the test to recover benefits through a workers’ compensation claim. There are clearly exceptions, though. If your conduct is unreasonable under the circumstances-suppose you purchase your own alcohol at a company golf outing, drink too much and fall out of a moving golf cart-your claim may be denied. However, if the company provided the alcohol, you may have a legitimate claim.

INJURIES RESULTING FROM YOUR OWN MISCONDUCT

Let’s say that you were hurt engaging in some type of activity or conduct that is clearly in violation of workplace safety rules. In most instances, you would still have a right to pursue workers’ compensation claims. That’s because workers’ compensation benefits are typically no-fault benefits-the law doesn’t look to who is at fault, but seeks only to determine if you were injured and it was in the course of your employment. There are, however, some exceptions to this rule-you can’t recover for self-inflicted injuries, but you can often recover if your job aggravates a pre-existing condition.

CONTACT THE LAW OFFICES OF MALLON & TRANGER

To learn how we can help you if you have been injured in the workplace, contact us online or call us at 732-702-0333 (toll free at ). There is no charge for your first meeting. We have offices in Freehold and Point Pleasant.