A Louisiana appeals court ruled Wednesday that a pharmacy technician was entitled to benefits for injuries from a fall after she suffered a seizure on the job.
Eddrina Woodard worked at the counter as a pharmacy technician for Brookshire Grocery Co. when in September 2019 she fell while suffering a seizure. Ms. Woodard sustained injuries to her right shoulder, according to Woodard v. Brookshire Grocery Co., filed in the Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit in Shreveport, Louisiana.
After the surgery and release, her claim for damages was denied.
A workers’ compensation judge found Woodard’s injury compensable and awarded her weekly temporary total disability benefits from the date of her accident, minus a credit for payments made by any group health insurance, plus punitive damages, attorney̵
7;s fees and interest.The Court of Appeal determined that she met the requirement for a work-related injury and explained that an accident occurs during employment when the employee suffers an injury while actively performing his duties during working hours, either on the employer’s premises or in other places where the employee carries out employment activities”, and that an “accident arises out of the employment if the conditions or obligations of the employment caused the employee to be at the scene of the accident during his employment at the time of the accident. occurred.”
At the time of the accident, the court noted, Ms. Woodard employed by Brookshire, on his employer’s premises, on the clock and standing at an assigned workstation, having just assisted in administering influenza vaccines.
“The fact that her fall was not directly caused by a work-related activity, but instead by a seizure, does not negate the fact that (her) accident occurred during and as a result of her employment at Brookshire,” the court said.
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