Legal Question in Workers Comp in California
Free legal question: As an RN, I attended a voluntary (not mandatory) information meeting at the hospital, related to my work, and injured myself in the hospital parking lot. I broke my ankle on a curb in the parking lot. In California, is this a workman's comp injury. The hospital says no because I was off duty and the meeting was not mandatory, merely voluntary. Thank you
2 Answers from Attorneys
I assume that you had gone to the hospital during a time that you were not scheduled to work. So you made a special commute to the hospital to attend an employer function that was intended to result in some benefit to your employer. That would make it covered by WC. If it was merely a normal commute to work and you got hurt in the parking lot, it would probably be excluded by the going and coming rule. Point out to your supervisor that if were not a WC injury, then you could file a civil suit if there was something wrong with the area in which you hurt yourself, which might be more costly than a WC claim. The broken ankle should heal in 4-6 week and, unless you are in your 50's or more, you likely will heal without any residual symptoms, making it a cheaper WC claim.
I somewhat disagree, in that I think the case could go either way given the voluntary nature of the meeting. However, the presumption is in favor of the employee. You will definitely need representation for this issue.