What’s the ‘Willful Violation’ Defense in Virginia?

Do You Know the Rule?

Fredericksburg, VA (WorkersCompensation.com) -- Employers don't just make safety rules for their health, and under Virginia law, an employee who decides to ignore safety rules might be out of luck when it comes to workers' compensation benefits.

The Rule

Here's how it works under the law of the Old Dominion.

As explained recently in Vanegas v. Triple S Pallets, No. 1900-23-2 (Va. Ct. App. 10/29/24, unpublished), a case the Simply Research subscribers have access to, the Virginia Workers’ Compensation Act prohibits the award of benefits for a work-related injury caused by an employee’s willful breach of any reasonable rule or regulation adopted by the employer and brought, prior to the accident, to the knowledge of the employee.

An employer must show four things to prevail on a willful-violation defense:

(1) The employer’s safety rule was reasonable.

(2) The rule was known to the employee.

(3) The rule was promulgated for the benefit of the employee.

(4) The employee intentionally undertook the forbidden act.

So, what does it mean for an employee to "intentionally undertake the forbidden act"? In Spruill v. C.W. Wright Constr. Co., 381 S.E.2d 359 (Va. Ct. App. 1989), the court explained that an employer didn't have to show that "the employee, with the rule in mind, purposefully determined to break it. It is sufficient to show that, knowing the safety rule, the employee intentionally performed the forbidden act.”

On the other hand, violation of a known rule by forgetting to perform an act is not an intentional act that constitutes willful misconduct.

In the Vanegas case, the court ultimately found that the worker knew the rule, adhered to it without failure for almost two years, observed others adhere to it, yet willfully failed to follow it on the day in question, thereby causing his injury.

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