We’ve written about horseplay on the blog before, and one Kentucky employee who was injured when he was trying to get a better look at what turned out to be an explosive object, was found not to have been engaging in horseplay at the time. He was able to receive workers’ compensation benefits for his injuries.

James Huff worked for Hall Contracting, beginning in 2007. On August 26, 2011 he was working at a construction site to relocate utility poles that were on the ground. He was working with another employee, Keith White. Huff was operating a forklift and White was a spotter walking around to search for an area to stack the utility poles onto. As he was walking, White found an object but he did not know what it was so he brought it to Huff to check out. It was a small black round object which neither had seen on the site before. Huff couldn’t tell what it was either, so he reached for a lighter in his pocket to get a better look but upon flicking the lighter the object exploded. He was seriously injured but was terminated because his company said that he violated the safety policy. His request for workers’ comp was denied as well, and when he was eventually cleared to work again he sought to resolve his benefits.

Initially his request to resolve his benefits was denied by an Administrative Law Judge who said that he could not find a work-related link to his injury. The judge said he was engaging in horseplay and was outside the course and scope of his employment. Huff further petitioned his case which was then reversed by the Workers’ Compensation Board who said he was acting within his employment. They said that though he may have acted in poor judgement, it was not a “playful” venture. He inspected an unknown object brought to him at the work site. His employer appealed and the Kentucky Court of Appeals sided with Huff again, saying that his inspection of the object was actually part of his duty to keep the work site safe from hazards.