Supreme Court Decides Horseplay Case
Horseplay is not an area that is addressed frequently by the Supreme Court, so the decision in Xenia Rural Water District v. Vegors , 786 NW2d 250 (July 2010) was an interesting departure from most workers' compensation cases before the court. The facts of the case are somewhat unusual. Claimant and a co-worker were in the habit of acknowledging each other by activities such as waving the boom of a back hoe at the other. On the date of injury, claimant had his hands full and acknowledged the other employee by "wiggling his butt" at him. The co-employee the attempted to bump claimant with the mirror of his truck, but ended up hitting him with the truck bed. The commissioner found claimant entitled to benefits, holding that the burden of proving horseplay was on the employer. The commissioner also rejected a defense that the injury was caused by a willful act of a third party. The district court reversed and denied benefits to...