Nonpaid ski patroller's injury is not compensable

In Pennsylvania, as part of a worker's burden of establishing the initial right to compensation, he must prove the existence of an employer-employee relationship at the time of injury.

Case name: Puliti v. Snow Time, Inc., 27 PAWCLR 16 (Pa. W.C.A.B. 2011).

Ruling: The Pennsylvania Workers' Compensation Appeal Board held that a volunteer ski patroller's injury was not compensable.

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What it means: In Pennsylvania, as part of a worker's burden of establishing the initial right to compensation, he must prove the existence of an employer-employee relationship at the time of injury.

Summary: A nonpaid ski patroller injured his shoulder when he was going to the patrol room to get meal tickets and another patroller hit him. The board found that his injury was not compensable. The board explained that there was no employer-employee relationship at the time of the injury. The workers' compensation statute states that an employee performs services for another for a "valuable consideration." Although the patroller received a free season pass for skiing, 20 individual passes, and discounts on clothing and meals, the board did not believe that this amounted to valuable consideration. The board also noted that "ski patrol" is not one of the enumerated volunteer occupations defined in the workers' compensation statute.

Read more at the WorkersComp Forum homepage.

April 23, 2012

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