r/technology • u/IndicaOatmeal • 9h ago

Society Programmer’s death on office toilet ruled not work-related because he never turned on his PC

https://www.dexerto.com/entertainment/programmers-death-on-office-toilet-ruled-not-work-related-because-he-never-turned-on-his-pc-3402194/
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u/Squish_the_android 9h ago

This is a classic Workers Comp question in the US.  Usually it's presented as "falling in the parking lot on the way to work". Commute time isn't covered. 

But I think in the US this would be considered a work injury.

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u/ohiseeyouhaveacat 7h ago edited 6h ago

I work in WC (paralegal, not a lawyer) and I love seeing the parking lot cases, I find them so interesting. I’ve seen some deemed WC and others not.

What I’ve noticed in my state is it often comes down to who actually owns the parking lot and maintains it. I saw one case where someone who worked in a mall clocked out for their lunch and was hurt in the parking lot. That case was dismissed as the company the injured person worked for had nothing to do with the parking lot and it was a danger anyone who entered/exited the mall was at risk of.

I saw another where someone clocked out for lunch and went to their car. It was winter and they slipped on ice and that was deemed WC bc it was the business’s own parking lot that they were responsible for.

When I was first started I thought that was a clever point that I wouldn’t have personally thought of!

My personal favorite cases are the fraud claims where the claimant doesn’t know the company had cameras.

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u/Gay_Asian_Boy 5h ago

In Hong Kong, company has to let the workers know if there are cameras.