Johnson v. WCAB (Union Camp Corp.)

In Johnson v. Workers' Compensation Appeal Board (Union Camp Corp.), 749 A.2d 1048 (Pa. Cmwlth. 2000), the claimant (Johnson), a fork lift operator who was also responsible for loading and unloading trucks, filed a claim petition after sustaining injuries upon getting pinned between two fork lifts. The employer (Union Camp) had work rules that mandated that employees stay in their assigned work area, prohibited horseplay, and directed that individuals who engaged in a fight with one another would be subject to suspension and/or discharge. Several lay witnesses testified that Johnson rode his forklift into a separate work area from the one he was assigned in order to discuss a non-work-related subject with another individual. Johnson parked his fork lift in an area that obstructed another worker, Mr. Dykins, who was also riding a fork lift, from performing his duties. The testimony indicated that Mr. Dykins asked Johnson to move his fork lift and that Johnson refused to do so. Consequently, Mr. Dykins attempted to maneuver around Johnson's fork lift and accidentally bumped it. Johnson became angry and jumped at Mr. Dykins' fork lift and somehow became caught causing injury. The WCJ denied Johnson's claim petition finding that he sustained his injuries while violating Union Camp's work rules. The Court affirmed noting that Johnson's actions in jumping on Mr. Dykins' forklift in order to confront him led to his injuries and that he knew of the work-rules he violated. Furthermore, we stated, "it cannot be denied that Claimant's actions of jumping on Mr. Dykins' fork lift to confront Mr. Dykins is something wholly foreign to Claimant's duties of driving his fork lift and loading and unloading trucks." Id. at 1053.