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The North Carolina Court of Appeals ruled that an employee for Winston-Salem, NC, is not eligible for workers’ compensation benefits for the injuries he suffered while on his work lunch break.

In 2015 Larry Brooks was working on a utility crew for the city. He took lunch at a gas station and smoked an electronic cigarette in a city truck. He suffered a coughing fit, telling the court he was not used to these kinds of cigarettes, and stepped out of the truck while coughing. He passed out and fell on the curb, injuring his back. He was not able to return to his former position.

He told the medical personnel who responded that he was diabetic but had not been taking his medications. A doctor determined that high blood pressure, high blood sugar and the coughing contributed to his fall.

He was initially denied compensation but appealed, saying that his circumstances were different than other cases where employees had passed out and crashed vehicles at work.

The court decided that even though he would not have been at that gas station if not for his job, his fall was due to underlying medical conditions and his personal decision to smoke. It was not work-related nor dictated by his employer. The city has a policy against workers smoking inside their vehicles.

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