In Panera Bread, LLC v. Industrial Claim Appeals Office of the State of Colorado, No. 05CA1465, 2006 WL 1914162 (July 13, 2006 Colo. App.) a Colorado appeals court ruled that an injury that occurred on the jobsite during horseplay was compensable.

 

Julio Medina worked in a bakery, and the floor was greasy, wet, and slippery. The bakery supplied its workers with special shoes. Medina sprained his wrist and suffered a hernia when he lifted his leg to playfully kick a coworker and slipped.

 

The administrative law judge applied a four-part balancing test, which considers how far horseplay deviates from the course of employment:

 

(1) the extent and seriousness of the deviation; (2) the completeness of the deviation, i.e., whether it was commingled with the performance of a duty or involved in an abandonment of duty; (3) the extent to which the practice of horseplay had become an accepted part of the employment; and (4) the extent to which the nature of the employment may be expected to include some horseplay.

 

Based on the test, the administrative law judge “concluded that claimant's injuries were compensable because his actions did not constitute an extensive or serious deviation from his employment duties and he remained in the designated area to perform them.” The judge further determined that the slippery floor, Medina 's shoes, and his actions all contributed to the injuries and were in the course of employment.

 

The appeals court said that the horseplay was so minor that it was still within the scope of employment—there was no complete abandonment of duty. Thus, the court affirmed the administrative law judge's ruling that the injury was compensable.