The Supreme Court of New York, Appellate Division, Third Department, ruled that a worker's injuries sustained while leaving a company happy hour event does constitute an injury arising in the course of his employment. The case is Matter of Matter v. Google Inc., 2024 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 4814 (N.Y. App. Div. 2024).
Bruce A. Matter, an account executive for Google, was seriously injured after leaving a company happy hour event. He was struck by two motorized bicycles while crossing the road to his bus stop. His injuries included a traumatic brain injury.
Google and its workers' compensation carrier denied Matter's claim, arguing that the injuries did not arise out of and in the course of employment. Matter argued that his injuries were in the course of employment under the special errand or dual-purpose doctrines.
The special errand doctrine says that an employee should be covered for an injury that occurs while performing a special errand for their employer. The dual-purpose doctrine says an employee should be covered while traveling for both business and personal purposes.
A Workers' Compensation Law Judge sided with the carrier and disallowed the claim. Upon administrative review, the Workers' Compensation Board reversed that decision. The Board stated that the claimant was acting in furtherance of the employer's business and that attending the event was necessary to carry out a function of their employment. The carrier appealed and the case was brought to the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York.
Matter testified that the happy hour had been placed on his calendar by a manager and that the event was not just encouraged but was a part of his job requirements. He claimed that attending events like the happy hour was an integral part of his duties as an account executive and in fostering working relationships with his employer's business partners.
During events like the happy hour, Matter would spend most of his time talking to business partners and would speak to his management to make sure he was connected to the right person. The employer's representative agreed that the purpose of events like the happy hour was to develop and maintain business relationships between the sales team and business partners.
The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York affirmed the Board's finding of a causal nexus between the Matter's employment and the accident. The Court found that even if the happy hour was of an informal nature, the employer derived a benefit from the claimant's attendance of the event, including generating sales and revenue for the employer.
Editor's note:
For an injury to be compensable under the Workers' Compensation Law, it must arise both out of and in the course of employment. Accidents that occur outside of work hours and away from the workplace are generally not compensable. An exception to this is if there is a causal nexus between the accident and the employment. In determining whether Matter's attendance of the happy hour was within the scope of employment or personal, the court considered whether the employer derived benefit from Matter's attendance and the nature of his off-premises travel. They decided the employer did benefit and ruled in Matter's favor. This would be completely different from if Matter simply went to the bar after work with some coworkers.
Read More: