Mississippi workers get injured while traveling all the time.  Truck drivers, traveling salespeople, and employees attending seminars and conventions are a few examples.  Lots of workers have to travel as part of their job.  What happens if there is a wreck or some other accident while workers are away from home or their normal workplace?

Mississippi workers’ compensation law says the answer depends on “whether the injury results from a risk which is inherent in the nature of the employment, or which is reasonably incidental thereto, or to which the employee is specially exposed, and upon whether the function or duty is reasonably necessary or incidental to the performance of the contract of employment, or, if not actively engaged, whether he/she was at a place where he was authorized or required by such contract to be”. Choctaw Resort Dev. Enter. v. Applequist, NO. 2014-WC-00969-COA (Miss. Ct. App. Jun. 11, 2014).

What does this mean for injured workers’ in Mississippi?  The above Mississippi law sounds like a long, confusing run on sentence.   In layman’s terms, it means  an injury that occurs while doing anything that is possibly related to employment is probably covered by workers’ compensation insurance in Mississippi.  

All legal decisions hinge on the facts of the case.  The facts are always different.  In the case mentioned above a casino inspector was driving home from an inspection and hit….wait for it….a 400 pound, wild boar.  No kidding.  Search for it on Google with this search, “Choctaw Resort v. Applequist”.  The courts found that the injuries were covered.

 If you have questions, check out our website at rundlettlawfirm.com, or call us.  We would be glad to help.

Kevin

“Success is not final, failure is not fatal; it is the courage to continue that counts.” – Winston Churchill