Illinos Accountatn's injuries due to misstep during cigarette break warrants benefits
The Illiois Workers' Compensation Commission awarded temporary total disability for 29 &1/7 weeks, permanent partial disability for 17% loss of use of the right arm under Section 8(e), and medical expenses of $15,907.62 to an employee who fell while descending her employer's staircase during a cigarette break.
Case name: Larsen v. Lee Auto Parts, 16 ILWCLB 129 (Ill.W.C.Comm.2008).
Larsen, an accountant, worked in a second floor office in the defendant's building. The defendant established a designated area in the building where employees were permitted to smoke. This area was on the first floor in the "will call" section of the premises.
On the day of the accident, Larsen was very busy preparing the fiscal year end reports for the auditors. The fiscal year had ended two days earlier. Larsen took a break to go to the designated smoking area to have a cigarette. She was hurrying down the only stairway from the second floor offices to the first floor when she greeted a coworker going up the stairs.
She turned her head to greet the coworker, missed a step, and fell down approximately six remaining stairs. Larsen testified that there was no debris or defect in the stairs. Finding Larsen's testimony credible, the arbitrator determined that Larsen's injuries arose out of and in the course of employment. Upon review, the Illinois Workers' Compensation Commission affirmed with modification regarding the extent of permanent disability.
In so holding the Commissioin relied on the appellate court's decision in Illinois Consolidated Telephone Co. v Industrial Commission. In Illinois Consolidated, the claimant fell while descending steps between her first floor work area and the second floor, where the women's restroom was located. The stars were the sole means of access to the women's restroom. The court found that the claimant was exposed to a greater risk than that of the general public because "she was continually forced to use stairs to seek personal comfort during her workday."
As in Illinois Consolidated, Larsen was exposed to a greater risk than that of the general upblic because she had to use the stairs to access the area that the defendant had designated for smoking. The Commission noted that smoking is considered an activity within Larsen's personal comfort.
