Did ‘Severe’ Drunkenness Render Fall from Ladder Non-Compensable?

Case File

Brooklyn, NY (WorkersCompensation.com) -- In New York, when a workplace injury is caused by an employee’s intoxication, the injury may not be compensable under the Workers’ Compensation Act. A case involving an employee who was essentially two sheets to the wind (and possibly three) when he fell off a ladder at work is a case in point.

It was around the holidays. He was working. And ok, he had had a bit to drink. Ok, it was a actually a lot –at least, if one trusts toxicology reports.

According to the report, the employee was extremely drunk when he was on a tall ladder–a bad combination on any day. He later testified that he was working on bringing down holiday lights from a shelf about eight feet high. It was the store’s usual practice for someone to hold the ladder while the other employee climbed it. There was no one holding the ladder, he said, because the store was so busy. 

He was carrying a heavy object down the ladder when the ladder tipped, and the employee fell eight feet, injuring himself. He sought workers’ compensation benefits, which the carrier opposed. Alcohol, the carrier argued, was what caused the fall, thus rendering the claim not compensable.

The court explained that in New York, under Workers' Compensation Law § 10 (1), there is a presumption of compensability for "disability or death from injury arising out of and in the course of employment without regard to fault as a cause of the injury, except ... when the injury has been solely occasioned by intoxication from alcohol."

If a carrier or employer wants to establish the above exception, it has the burden to establish that the intoxication was the sole cause of the accident.

Was the employee’s injury compensable?

A. No. But for his intoxication, he would not have fallen.

B. Yes. There were factors other than intoxication that may have contributed to the fall.

If you selected B, you agreed with the court in Lujan-Espinzo v. Electrical Illuminations by Arnold, Inc., No. CV-23-0458 (N.Y. App. Div. 10/10/24), which held that the carrier failed to overcome the presumption that the claim was reimbursable.

The court acknowledged that the evidence showed the claimant was severely intoxicated at the time of the accident. Further, an expert testified as to the cognitive and physical impairments that result from a blood alcohol level as high as claimant's.

However, as the expert acknowledged, working on an unsteady ladder or carrying something down a ladder increases the risk of and could contribute to falling, irrespective of alcohol impairment.

“[A]lthough intoxication may have contributed to the accident, the record reflects that claimant's fall can also be attributed to the absence of another employee holding the ladder, a simple misjudgment of footing, the lack of a safety railing on an elevated surface or the inherent risk of working at height,’” the court wrote.

Thus, the employer failed to rebut the presumption of compensability. The court affirmed the Workers’ Compensation Board's decision to allow the claim.

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