A man goes to his wife's work upset over a custody issue and shoots her. Is this compensable?

A man goes to his wife's work upset over a custody issue and shoots her. Is this compensable?

• A. Yes
• B. No
• C. Yes if employer approves
• D. No if outside business hours

Answer: (B)

In workers’ compensation, a claim is compensable only if the injury arises out of and in the course of the employee’s employment. That means the danger or incident has to be tied to the duties, duties-related risks, or conditions of the job. In this scenario, the wife is the employee, and the injury comes from a personal dispute between her husband and her at her workplace. The crucial point is that the act is a personal criminal act driven by a family issue, not a risk created by the job or by working conditions. Since the danger here does not arise from the course of the wife’s employment or from employment-related hazards, it does not fall within the scope of workers’ compensation coverage. The fact that it happened at the workplace location does not change that—only risks connected to the job qualify. There could be different avenues if the employer failed to provide adequate security or if the assault were somehow tied to a workplace hazard created by the employer, but those details aren’t present in this scenario. Based on the information given, the injury is not compensable.

In workers’ compensation, a claim is compensable only if the injury arises out of and in the course of the employee’s employment. That means the danger or incident has to be tied to the duties, duties-related risks, or conditions of the job.

In this scenario, the wife is the employee, and the injury comes from a personal dispute between her husband and her at her workplace. The crucial point is that the act is a personal criminal act driven by a family issue, not a risk created by the job or by working conditions. Since the danger here does not arise from the course of the wife’s employment or from employment-related hazards, it does not fall within the scope of workers’ compensation coverage. The fact that it happened at the workplace location does not change that—only risks connected to the job qualify.

There could be different avenues if the employer failed to provide adequate security or if the assault were somehow tied to a workplace hazard created by the employer, but those details aren’t present in this scenario. Based on the information given, the injury is not compensable.