South Dakota Prankster Entitled to Workers’ Comp: Court

The South Dakota Supreme Court says a man who broke his ankle running away from a co-worker on whom he had played a prank at a construction site is entitled to workers’ compensation.

In Jason Petrik v. JJ Concrete, Inc. and EMC Insurance Co., South Dakota’s high court ruled that the state Department of Labor incorrectly denied benefits to concrete worker Jason Petrik. Petrik tricked his co-worker into giving up his seat in an air-conditioned truck on a hot August day in 2012. He broke his ankle jumping over a trench while his co-worker chased him.

Petrik’s employer, JJ Concrete, argued he shouldn’t get benefits because the compa­ny’s rules bar horseplay.

“JJ Concrete and EMC Insurance Company refused to pay for Petrik’s medical expenses and refused to provide tem­porary total disability ben­efits,” the court wrote in its opinion.

The South Dakota Department of Labor ruled that Petrik’s injury “arose out of” his employment, but did not occur “in the course of” the employment and denied employee benefits, according to the court’s opinion. The circuit court affirmed.

Petrik had argued that during idle times he and his co-workers often “would play jokes and tricks on each other.”

The Supreme Court reversed the lower court rulings. It ruled Petrik’s horseplay wasn’t a “sub­stantial deviation” from his normal work and therefore happened while he was on the job.

The case was remanded to the Department of Labor for an award of work­ers’ comp benefits.

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