A trucker’s worker’s compensation awarded after falling in a truck stop shower was overturned in New Jersey after the appellate court determined that showering at truck stops does not fall under the driver’s “course of employment.”
The incident happened back in October of 2015 as truck driver Samuel Kamenetti was hauling produce from California to New Jersey for Sangillo and Sons trucking company. During his route, Kamenetti stopped at a Flying J truck stop to grab fuel and a shower, and that’s when the trouble started.
As Kamenetti was getting dressed following his shower, the bench he was sitting on collapsed, causing him to fall onto the floor where he sustained injuries.
Although Kamenetti’s injuries have not been specified, it is said he then contacted Sangillo, his employer, and drove to a nearby clinic where he was prescribed pain medication. He then continued his journey on to New Jersey.
Kamenetti settled with Pilot Flying J for $40,000, but went on to file a worker’s compensation claim to help him with medical treatment and to provide him with temporary benefits. He was then granted worker’s compensation in August of 2016 by a Worker’s Compensation judge. However, upon further review of the case, the New Jersey appellate court decided that showering does not fall into the category of “direct performance of duties assigned or directed by the employer,” and so Kamenetti should not qualify for Worker’s Compensation.
“When he was injured, he was putting on his boots after showering,” the appellate panel pointed out in court documents.
“He was not ‘performing his prescribed job duties at the time of the injury.’”
Although Kamenetti’s attorney argues that showering is important to keeping the driver alert and for appropriate representation of the company, the appellate court did not agree, so Kamenetti’s Worker’s Compensation was revoked.
“Kamenetti’s showering was indistinguishable from the showering of countless on-premises employees in their homes every day before going to work,” explained the appellate court.
“Many of those employees shower so they will be refreshed and clean, and so they will not have body odor when they represent themselves and their company. Such employees are not ‘in the course of their employment’ if they slip in the shower or fall while putting on their clothes or shoes.”
