Lunchtime injuries
Smith v City of Rochester, 255 AD2d 863
Donna Smith, a City of Rochester parking monitor, slipped on a wet floor and fell while leaving a restaurant during an unpaid lunch break. The Workers’ Compensation Board denied Smith’s workers’ compensation claim, finding that she had not sustained an accidental injury in the course of her employment.
The Appellate Division affirmed the board’s determination, holding that “lunchtime injuries are generally deemed to occur outside the scope of employment except under limited circumstances where the employer continues to exercise authority over the employee during the lunch break.” The court said that the record showed that Smith had discretion as to the time and location of her lunch breaks and the city neither suggested that she eat at that particular restaurant nor derived any benefit from her patronizing that establishment.
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