LEGAL
IS AN OFF DUTY
ATHLETIC INJURY AN
INDUSTRIAL INJURY?
By Martin J. Mayer, General Counsel
California Police Chiefs Association
Can an injury incurred during off duty physical activity by a
peace officer, activity not approved nor authorized by the employer,
be consider an industrial injury? The answer is, “it depends.”
In the recent case of Young v. Workers’
Compensation Appeals Board and County of
Butte, Young v. Workers' Comp. Appeals
Bd., 227 Cal. App. 4th 472 (2014), the Third
District Court of Appeal held that “a county
jail correctional sergeant's off-duty injury,
sustained when he was performing jumping
jacks at home as part of his regular warmup exercise regimen, arose in the course
of his employment under [Labor Code]
section 3600(a)(9) . . . .” (Emphasis added.)
The Court noted th at “Labor Code
section 3600, subdivision (a)(9) forecloses
workers' compensation coverage for an
injury that arises out of ‘voluntary participation in any off-duty recreational, social,
or athletic activity not constituting part of
the employee's work-related duties, except
where these activities are a reasonable expectancy of, or are expressly or impliedly
required by, the employment.’”
In the Young case, “a departmental
order required correctional officers to
‘maintain themselves in good physical
condition so that they can handle the strenuous physical contacts often required of a
law enforcement officer,’ and . . . the Butte
County Sheriff's Department required its
correctional officers to undergo periodic
training exercises, many of which involved
physical activity. Consequently, we annul
the decision from the Workers' Compensation Appeals Board (WCAB), which con-
cluded otherwise, and remand for further
proceedings.” (Emphasis added.)
LIMITING SUCH EXPOSURE
A different result occurred in the
case of Taylor v. Workers' Comp. Appeals
Bd. (1988) 199 Cal App. 3d. 211, where the
issue presented was “whether the Workers' Compensation Appeals Board erred
in denying the petitioner, a police officer,
workers' compensation for an injury sustained while playing basketball during his
lunch period?”
“As a police officer, petitioner was
expected (by his employer) to keep himself
in good physical condition, parti