Archive for August, 2025

Many workers’ compensation cases in Pennsylvania involve accidents in situations you might expect. A warehouse worker suffered injuries in a forklift accident, for instance, or a nursing assistant injured her back while moving heavy patients.

But a Lancaster job injury lawyer with decades of experience helping injured workers recover full benefits through the Pennsylvania workers’ comp system knows that there are many occasions where workers suffer unexpected injuries due to highly unusual causes, and these should be covered too, as long as they occur in the scope of employment.

Here are some examples of cases we’ve run across over the years that help illustrate the concept of what may be covered and what may be outside the workers’ compensation scheme in Pennsylvania.

Covered: Stabbing by Family Member

In one of the weirdest workers’ comp cases we’ve ever run across, the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania ruled that a woman whose son slit her throat and stabbed her while she was sleeping was entitled to workers’ compensation benefits for her injuries. The son was living in her home, and she provided attendant care to him while he recovered from leg amputation surgery. 

The caregiving arrangement had been suggested by the rehabilitation center where the son had been in residence after the surgery. Caregiving services were paid for by the Pennsylvania Department of Welfare, with the son acting as her employer. The services did not include 24-hour care, but the employer/son could ask for services at night if the caregiver was already awake. The care position paid for 64 hours of care each week. 

Although the mother routinely provided care in the evenings on weekends and had assisted her son at 11:30 p.m. on the night in question, it was 1:30 a.m. at the time she sustained her injuries in the attack, and she had been sleeping. The Workers’ Compensation Appeal Board ruled that the mother was not engaged in the furtherance of the employer’s affairs at the time of the attack, so she did not qualify for benefits.

 However, the court disagreed. Observing that the only “feasible way” for the employee to fulfill her obligations to the employer was for him to reside in her home, and that the agencies paying for care approved the arrangement, the court concluded that the claimant was “practically required” to live with her son by the nature of her employment and that her injuries were caused by the operation of the employer’s affairs.

Not Covered: Bored Antics with a Bowling Ball

Our next weird case involves a worker who got bored while waiting for asphalt to be delivered to a job site. He and his co-workers found a bowling ball lying nearby, and they amused themselves by throwing it around for a while before they changed the game to a contest to see who could smash it with a sledgehammer. 

The foreman told them to “knock it off.” But instead of listening, one of the workers hit the ball again, causing a piece to splinter off and strike him in the eye. The injury led to the loss of his eye. 

He also lost his workers’ comp case. The Workers’ Compensation Appeal Board ruled that the foreman’s verbal instruction was sufficient to constitute a “positive work order” and that the worker’s injury occurred while he was violating the order. The Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania agreed.

Covered: Injuries While Riding Home from the Jobsite

In most cases, employees in Pennsylvania are not able to receive workers’ compensation benefits for injuries they suffer while commuting to or from work. But sometimes, those injuries are covered, and here’s an example. The worker in this case was employed in demolition work and had finished working for the day. A co-worker was driving him home in a company truck filled with scrap that they were intending to drop off before continuing on to the worker’s home. On the way, they were involved in an accident that resulted in injuries. 

Although the Workers’ Compensation Appeal Board held that the worker was not injured in the course and scope of employment, the Court disagreed. Noting that the worker was traveling in the employer’s vehicle to transport material removed from the job site, the court found that the worker was traveling in furtherance of the employer’s business and therefore the injuries should be covered by workers’ compensation.

Not Covered: Bear Hug from a Grateful Co-Worker

This bizarre case shows the importance of witnesses in a workers’ comp case. A worker claimed he was assaulted by a co-worker while he was in the process of signing out for the day. He asserted that a co-worker picked him up and shook him violently from side to side, causing serious injuries. However, witnesses testified that the co-worker had simply given him a big hug as a thank you for a t-shirt. Moreover, the worker waited two months to report the incident and didn’t see a doctor until a year afterward. The Court upheld the judge’s determination that the claimant was not credible in claiming he suffered injuries from an assault.

Covered and Not-Covered: Heart Attacks and Strokes

In many cases, where a worker is hurt by an incident such as a heart attack or stroke, or a worker suffers psychological illness, the employee is not considered eligible for workers’ compensation benefits because the event is not proven to be work-related. A worker who had a heart attack while holding a termination letter from his employer was not entitled to benefits, for instance. Nor was an employee who suffered post-traumatic stress disorder after being the victim of an armed robbery. (This was held to be a normal working condition.)

However, on occasion, a judge will agree that a physical or mental condition was caused by the stress of job conditions and award compensation. For instance, a foundry worker who suffered a stroke after more than 20 years of sporadic employment as an auto pour operator near two furnaces, carrying heavy loads while encumbered by a fire suit and welding clothes, was awarded disability benefits. The judge found that the heat and the physical requirements of the job caused the stroke, even though some co-workers testified that job conditions were not as bad as the worker claimed.

What Can You Learn from Unusual Workers’ Comp Cases?

While there are many different lessons to be learned from these cases, the one common factor is unpredictability. It can be hard to determine how an administrative judge or court will react to evidence, so it is important to pay attention to every detail and not assume that an issue will be ruled for or against you. Your attorney needs to present evidence and solid arguments to support every single facet of your case.

It is also important to follow your employer’s directions, report injuries promptly, and preserve evidence that can demonstrate the workplace conditions at the time of the injury. If you have questions or need assistance filing a claim or appealing the denial of workers’ compensation benefits, contact a Lancaster job injury lawyer at Vanasse Law to learn how we may be able to help. To reach us by phone, call 717-397-1010 or, after hours, call 717-471-2168.