- Arising out of employment (reasonably incidental activity test)
- Evidence (videotape)
The employer appealed the granting of initial entitlement for injuries sustained in a fall while the worker was entering her place of work on February 7, 2019. The worker was carrying in her right hand two dozen eggs that she was going to provide to coworkers. In order to protect the eggs, she reached across her body with her left arm to open the door, lost her center of balance, and fell.
The appeal was dismissed. The worker's injuries arose out of employment. The act of walking to her work station on the route expected of her at the time expected of her was an act incidental to the worker's employment obligations. The fact that she carried some eggs to provide to coworkers did not change the essential nature of what she was doing at the time of the accident and did not contribute in any material way to the accident. It was not clear from the video recording of the entrance why the worker fell. The video did not clearly show that the worker shifted the eggs from her left to her right hand as she approached the entrance, as submitted by the employer. There was nothing unusual about the worker carrying a bag into work. The video showed other employees carrying items in one or both hands, and some reaching across with their left arm to open the door.