Employer Zapped For Work Comp After Laser Tag Injury

The employees fired the laser guns but it was the employer who felt the jolt.

Rosemount, Inc. held a special employee recognition event consisting of dinner, bowling and laser tag. Those who attended were paid for three hours at their usual hourly rate and could choose whether to participate in the active events or simply socialize with their co-workers.  Employees who elected not to attend forfeited three hours of pay or vacation credit.

Employer Targets Voluntary Event Defense

One of the active participants, Ali Shire, suffered an injured ankle during the laser tag competition. He filed a workers compensation claim due to his temporary total inability to perform his job, but the company denied the claim.  They contended that the injury was sustained in a voluntary recreational program, and such injuries are excluded from coverage under the following provision of the Minnesota’s workers compensation statute:

Injuries incurred while participating in voluntary recreational programs sponsored by the employer, including health promotion programs, athletic events, parties, and picnics, do not arise out of and in the course of the employment even though the employer pays some or all of the cost of the program. This exclusion does not apply in the event that the injured employee was ordered or assigned by the employer to participate in the program.

Specifically, Rosemount argued that Shire was not required to attend the event so his participation was voluntary and therefore not covered by the workers comp law.  Moreover, even if attendance at the event was not considered voluntary, his decision to play laser tag was certainly his own free choice since all employees were told that they could sit out the specific activities if they wished.

Decision Leaves Employee Beaming 

The Workers Compensation Court of Appeals disagreed, as did the Minnesota Supreme Court.  The Supreme Court ruled that attendance at the event was not voluntary since the only way that employees could avoid the loss of pay or limited time-off benefits was to attend the gathering.  Such implicit coercion simply does not equate with a voluntary choice on the part of the employee.

The court also rejected the argument that playing laser tag was “voluntary activity.” The law applies to injuries suffered during a “voluntary program”, and does not require an “activity-by-activity” analysis.  Applying what they deemed to be the “rules of grammar,” the court concluded that the word “voluntary” modifies the noun “program“, which is defined as a list or schedule of activities to be followed.

As such, the focus is on whether the overall program was voluntary and not merely the individual events on the program’s schedule.  Since the court already ruled that participation in the overall event was not voluntary, any injury suffered while enjoying any part of that event was covered under the workers compensation statute.

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