An Oregon woman worked as an office assistant for her employer during tax season. She would greet customers, answer phones, scan and photocopy documents and occasionally she would take parcels or mail to the post office.

One day she had to mail an envelope and Wagner, a co-owner of her company, allowed her to walk to the post office to mail it knowing that she liked to take walks. Initially Wagner was going to walk it to the post office but the claimant volunteered to take it instead. It was a short three blocks away from the office, but as she was coming back she was hit by a car. She suffered serious injuries and filed for workers’ compensation benefits which her employer initially denied. She took her case to an Administrative Law Judge.

In Oregon an injury that comes about during the course of employment is typically compensable, except when it is incurred while an employee is engaging in a recreational or social activity more for their pleasure than for the benefit of the employer. Her employer claimed that the primary reason the claimant took the envelope to the post office herself was for her own personal pleasure as she enjoyed taking walks. The ALJ said her injury did not fall under the personal pleasure exclusion and she deserved workers’ compensation, a conclusion that her employer appealed to the Workers’ Compensation Board. They agreed with the ALG.

The claimant only visited the post office and did not make any other stops along the way. She paid for the postage with a company check and was on her way back to work when she was injured. Wagner claimed that since they were initially going to take it to the post office before the claimant volunteered, her actions really did not benefit the employer as much as they did her personal pleasure but the board rejected that notion. Just because a worker enjoyed a task related to work did not mean they were doing it for personal gain, as it was still a task related to work. Her employer benefited from her actions regardless of whether she enjoyed them or not.