Workers' Comp Blog
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Employee Injured While Sleeping in Car at Place of Employment
An employee was acting within the parameters of his employment as he was sleeping in his car in the employer's parking lot, awaiting the start of his shift. The plaintiff, who worked at Sears, arrived half an hour early for work, and was parked in the Sears parking lot, napping before it was time to clock in. A co-employee backed into his car and injured him. The injured employee attempted to bring charges against the driver as he didn't believe Sears was responsible.
The co-employee argued that this claim was barred because of the Workers' Compensation Act and that he was not responsible.
On appeal, the Superior Court found that the plaintiff was at the parking lot within the scope of his employment. This was not like the cases where an employee arrived early and engaged in unrelated activities like shopping. Instead, waiting for work was within the scope of employment sufficient to be covered by the Workers' Compensation Act.
Accordingly, the Superior Court affirmed summary judgement for defendant.
