Term Paper on "Workers Compensation Law"

Term Paper 4 pages (1136 words) Sources: 1+

[EXCERPT] . . . .

While strict liability includes vulnerability of using ultra dangerous machines or indulging in risky activities. Negligence, as the term suggests is failure to employ reasonable or required care and precaution for the prevention of undesirable accident.

But under the tort system, workers often did not recover damages. Those who did had to endure delays and high costs in the process. Even though the employers generally were treated with sympathy in the courts, still, they were exposed to high risks for gigantic and unpredictable losses if the employers were successful in the courts. However, with time both employers and employees came to a mutual agreement of resorting to court wherein they would receive predictable compensation without delay, regardless of who was at fault. Under an exclusive remedy concept, employees accepted the worker's compensation as part of the payment while giving up the right to sue the employer by return.

In 2002, the law covered 125.6 million workers, (Thompson Williams 2004). The total wages of workers given the protection of Workers compensation law were $4.6 trillion while the total worker's compensation benefit payments were $53.4 billion amounting to $1.16 per $100 of the covered wages.

CASE STUDY

Recently, the Superior Court of New Jersey turned down a lower court's decision, judging that the death of a security officer on the job while playing Russian roulette is not entitled to compensation benefits.

Bruce Money, who worked as a security officer for an armored truck company by the name of Coin Depot Corporation, was required to carry a handgun on the job. In the August of 1989, Money took out his gun while on job, putting one bullet in the handgun's cylinder and spinning it, placed the gun against his chin and pulled the trigger. The first time the gun did not discharge, but the second time it fired killing him instantly.

His widowed wife filed a worker's compensation claim requesting survivor's benefits from the company. After a 4 day hearing, the judge declared that Money died in an accident arising out of employment, meaning thereby, he did not mean or wish to kill himself. And that the co-workers had told the employer's inclination towards playing Russian roulette.

In execution of this decision, the judge placed his judgment on other cases where employers who made the employees handle dangerous instruments (weapons for instance). Under these considerations the employer was liable of Workers Compensation under the clause of strict liability as mentioned earlier. The judge also pointed out that Money's indulgences in the Russian Roulette was in the employer's knowledge meaning thereby that the company knew of and ignored the activity.

According to Money's attorney, David Walker of Thomas Hood, P.A., Plainfield, New Jersey, the case signifies a shift of the legal attitude towards workers' compensation. The previous workers compensation cases brought forth took a broad view deciding whether incidents were related to work under workers' compensation law. Thus ff an incident occurred on job or while an employee was in service of his or her job, workers' compensation was applicable.

References:

Workers Compensation Law, Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition, 2005 retrieved online on 27 October 2005 at http://www.encyclopedia.com/html/w1/workersc.asp

Virginia Reno, Cecili Thompson Williams and Ishita Sengupta, Winter 2003, Workers' compensation, Social Security Disability Insurance, and the offset: a fact sheet, Social Security Bulletin.

Peter M. Lencsis, 1998, Workers Compensation: A Reference and Guide, Quorum Books, Westport, CT, page 5.

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