Elin works for Form Molding Company. Near her workstation is a conveyor belt that runs through a large industrial oven. Some workers, including Greg, Elin's supervisor, use the oven to heat food. Thirty-inch-high flasks containing molds are fixed at regular intervals on the conveyor and transported into the oven. Elin walks between the flasks to get to her workstation. One day, when the conveyor is not moving, Elin uses the oven to cook a frozen potpie. As she removes the pie from the oven, the conveyor comes on. One of the flasks strikes Elin, seriously injuring her. Elin seeks recovery under the state workers' compensation law. Should she recover? Why or why not?

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

For a worker to be eligible for workers' compensation, the injury must have been an accident and have arisen out of or in the course of employment. Although Elin was accidentally struck by the flask, recovery could be denied because Elin was not engaged in an activity directly related to her work but was instead heating frozen food in an industrial oven. By the same token, however, it is a common practice to use the oven and the employer has apparently not forbidden the practice. Because the cooking is done by many employees, including Elin's supervisor, Formative can be imputed with the knowledge of it. On balance, then, Elin should be allowed to receive workers' compensation benefits.