Drugs, poor judgment and heavy machinery. One worker mixed all three together and was seriously injured. Then he wanted to collect comp benefits.
The sensible reaction: No one would ever award comp benefits to a guy who was operating heavy machinery while on drugs.
Well, prepare to be surprised.
The scene
A man was operating a roller, which leveled and compacted dirt before asphalt was laid on a roadway. When the man attempted to break apart a large pile of dirt, the roller tipped over — throwing the worker (who naturally wasn’t wearing a seat belt) from the machine.
The man suffered severe injuries, and a drug test later revealed that he had four times the level of marijuana in his system needed to be considered impaired. The man even admitted to using marijuana the day before the accident. However, he claimed he was clearheaded on the day of the incident.
But because the workers’ comp board said there wasn’t enough evidence to show that the man behaved erratically or unusually before the accident, it awarded him benefits.
Company wasn’t done
His employer appealed and was able to get the bizarre ruling overturned.
An experienced operating engineer testified that the man’s attempt to flatten an extremely large mound of dirt showed a serious lack of judgment. And a toxicologist testified that a person impaired by marijuana would be able to operate machinery normally until something unexpected was placed in the person’s path — something like a large mound of dirt.
The appeals court determined the man’s operation of the machine showed extremely poor judgment. Case closed — benefits denied.
Cite: Wiehe v. Kissick Construction Co.
