Rep can't show blood donation at work caused fainting episode

In New York, if the claimant faints while giving blood or immediately thereafter or can show that her fainting was causally related to her donating blood, then her resulting injuries are compensable.

Case name: Verizon Communications, 111 NYWCLR 112 (N.Y.W.C.B. 2011).

Ruling: The New York Workers' Compensation Board concluded that there was insufficient medical evidence connecting a worker's fainting spell to her blood donation at work. Therefore, the claim was not established.

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What it means: In New York, if the claimant faints while giving blood or immediately thereafter or can show that her fainting was causally related to her donating blood, then her resulting injuries are compensable. In this case, a 45-minute gap between her blood donation and her fainting prevented the claim from establishing causation.

Summary: A customer service representative went outside on her unpaid lunch break after donating blood, and she began to feel sick. After sitting on a bench, she stood up and passed out, injuring her clavicle in her fall. She passed out 45 minutes after donating blood. In denying the claim, the board noted that because no evidence was submitted to indicate that the representative's lunch break on the day in question was at a different time from when she usually took her lunch break, that she was engaged in any work activities during her lunch break, or that the employer exercised any control over her during her lunch break, there were no special circumstances invoking the exception to the general rule that injuries occurring during lunch breaks are not compensable. The board concluded that the representative's injuries did not directly result from donating blood but resulted from her passing out.

Read more at the WorkersComp Forum homepage.

August 11, 2011

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