Injury in the kitchen after a meeting where colleagues drank alcohol and the drinking was condoned by the supervisor. What is the likely result for compensability?

Injury in the kitchen after a meeting where colleagues drank alcohol and the drinking was condoned by the supervisor. What is the likely result for compensability?

• A. The injury is not compensable because the attendance at the meeting was voluntary.
• B. The injury is compensable because the drinking was condoned by the employee's supervisor.
• C. The injury is compensable because the attendance at the meeting was not voluntary.
• D. The injury is compensable because the consumption of alcohol occurred during work hours.

Answer: (B)

In California workers’ compensation, an injury is compensable if it occurs in the course of employment and arises out of employment-related risk. When the employer condones or encourages a risky activity at a work-related event, that activity becomes part of the work environment. Here, drinking alcohol at a meeting was allowed by the supervisor, so the drinking is tied to the job setting. As a result, an injury that occurs in the kitchen afterward is viewed as arising out of and within the scope of employment, making it compensable. Attending the meeting or the fact that drinking happened during work hours are factors, but the key point is the supervisor’s endorsement of the drinking. That endorsement links the activity to the workplace, which is why the injury is compensable.

In California workers’ compensation, an injury is compensable if it occurs in the course of employment and arises out of employment-related risk. When the employer condones or encourages a risky activity at a work-related event, that activity becomes part of the work environment. Here, drinking alcohol at a meeting was allowed by the supervisor, so the drinking is tied to the job setting. As a result, an injury that occurs in the kitchen afterward is viewed as arising out of and within the scope of employment, making it compensable.

Attending the meeting or the fact that drinking happened during work hours are factors, but the key point is the supervisor’s endorsement of the drinking. That endorsement links the activity to the workplace, which is why the injury is compensable.