Discussion Topic 1: Detouring on the Job.

Employees routinely utilize company assets for personal use while employed. The question is whether the employee might be covered under workers' compensation law for injuries sustained when the employee is injured while using employer materials for personal use.

You own a delivery service. Employees drive your vans to deliver goods around town. When on the job, an employee detours to pick up his girlfriend and drops her off at work. En route to her work they are involved in an automobile accident, rear-ending another vehicle.

Based on the information given above, answer the following questions:

What are the issues and concerns of this situation?

How do these facts affect whether or not a viable workers' compensation claim exists?

How would you, as the employer, handle the claim and why?

Provide a well-reasoned answer. Cite case law or statutes to support your answer.

Discussion Topic 2: Deadline Driven Claims

There are many concerns that attorneys have in the practice of law. None is more case threatening than missing deadlines. Once a statute of limitations expires, the case terminates or sanctions are applied against the one missing the deadline. Calculating these deadlines becomes difficult when the dime draws near.

Donna Bard is in a jurisdiction that computes the statute of limitation for filing workers' compensation claims using the date of accident method. She is involved in an incident at work on June 12, 2003, reports the incident, says she feels fine, and does not want to see a doctor.

A week or so later, feeling unwell, she goes to the doctor on June 21, 2003. The doctor tells her she cracked some ribs, probably in the incident at work. She files a workers' compensation claim on June 21, 2004. The judge does not consider it, citing the statute of limitations.

Based on the above information, answer whether you think the judge's ruling is fair. Why or why not? Support your answer with appropriate reasoning.