If you are injured while on your break at work, it is possible for you to have a winning workers’ comp case. Here’s a quick recap of a recent slip and fall Illinois case:
- Leszek Janiszewski worked as an employee for Idea Furniture.
- His normal workday involved making furniture deliveries, and during these deliveries, he would take a break to get food.
- The employer was aware of his lunch breaks, and even deducted time from his checks to account for it.
- January 10, 2014: Mr. Janiszweski and a co-worker made deliveries, and he proceeded to take a break to eat a restaurant.
- While on break, when walking back to the delivery truck from the restaurant, he slipped and fell on ice in the parking lot, and injured his right foot and leg in a very gruesome injury called an “open fracture.”
- He was taken by ambulance and underwent right leg surgery twice over the next few days, and soon began the long road to recovery.
He hired an attorney and won his case! Why did he win?
He won mainly because:
A.) He was a traveling employee by definition of his job duties
and
B.) It was clearly established that his conduct “might normally be anticipated or foreseen by the employer,” because his employer knew about his breaks, as evidenced by deductions from his paychecks.
If you think you might have a workers’ comp or personal injury case or have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us at Peter D. Corti Law Group. We can provide a free consultation and answers to your questions.
Injury on Break, Open Fracture Work Injury, Slip and Fall, Traveling Employee
