Guide to Workers’ Compensation Claims in Kansas

Delores is a receptionist in an accounting firm.

Her job is considered low-risk because her primary functions require sitting at her desk to answer the phones, scheduling appointments, performing data entry and greeting clients who enter the office.

One day, Delores is preparing to go out for her lunch break when a client enters the reception area for an appointment. Delores sets her handbag down by her chair to sit momentarily while she calls the accountant to announce the guest. When she stands again to leave for her lunch, she trips over the bag she’d put on the floor.

Delores falls and breaks both of her wrists. The injuries require surgery and she is unable to return to work for several months.

Should Delores receive workers’ compensation benefits?

Yes.

Even though the accident wasn’t directly related to Delores’ performance of her job, and even though she caused the injury because she forgot that her bag was on the floor, an accident that happens in the workplace is compensable. She can (and should) file a workers’ compensation claim to cover her expenses.

Donna is an executive assistant.

One Tuesday, Donna’s boss asks her to pick up some flyers that they need for a work-related presentation later that afternoon. Donna heads out to the print shop to get the flyers.

While at the print shop, Donna decides to see how the flyers would appear if she made them half-sized. She begins to use a large paper cutter when the blade falls and severs her right-hand index finger.

Donna must receive emergency medical treatment and have her finger surgically reattached; she is left with a partial disability that affects her ability to work for a long time (maybe for the remainder of her professional life).

Should Donna receive workers’ compensation benefits?

Yes. She was not at her physical workplace but she was performing a task required for her job. Therefore, the location of where she was injured is not relevant because the injury happened while she was “at work.”

Margaret works in an office building that was constructed in 1792. She’d been working in the same office for 20 years when she began experiencing a persistent cough, extreme fatigue and some shortness of breath. She visited her primary doctor, and then a specialist, to diagnose her condition.

After ruling out a lot of illnesses and diseases, Margaret’s doctor determined that her symptoms were consistent with long-term exposure to asbestos. She lived in a newer home, so she knew she hadn’t been exposed there because asbestos hasn’t been used in residential construction since 1978.

However, Margaret learned that her office had loose dust from ceiling and floor tiles that contained asbestos. It wasn’t prevalent when her office was built in the 1700s, but later renovations made use of the substance and she had been exposed for decades as she went to work each day.

Should Margaret receive workers’ compensation benefits?

Yes. But it will be tricky. Margaret will need to prove to her employer’s insurance company that her asbestos-related symptoms developed because of exposure at work and that there is no other reason she is experiencing these symptoms. Workers’ compensation insurance covers occupational illnesses and diseases that develop over time.

Jed’s job requires frequent travel.

He’s in fairly good condition for an adult his age, but sitting in airplane seats, reaching for luggage overhead and frequently carrying his own bags has begun to take a toll on his body. He begins to experience aches and pains and goes to the doctor.

His doctor says he has a musculoskeletal disorder brought about by strain on his body that could be caused by the way he uses it while traveling for work.

Should Jed receive workers’ compensation insurance?

Maybe, but it’s not automatic. You can receive workers’ comp benefits for an injury that develops from repetitive motion, strain, heavy lifting or other factors related to your job. But in an instance like this one, Jed would need to prove that his pain did not develop for any other reason, including the natural course of aging.

Charlie works for Jed (but Charlie is younger and much more physically fit).

Jed texts Charlie early one morning and asks Charlie to please stop at the drycleaners on his way to work and pick up Jed’s suit that he needs for travel that day. Jed knows that Charlie needs to pass the cleaners on his way to work.

Charlie drives to work, parks in his regular spot, and walks toward the office. On the way, he stops into the cleaners to pick up Jed’s suit. Once Charlie steps out of the cleaners and heads in the direction of work, a cyclist on an electric bike is riding recklessly on the sidewalk. He hits Charlie and Charlie is injured.

Should Charlie receive workers’ compensation insurance?

No. An accident that happens during your commute to or from work, or when you’re “off the clock” is not compensable. Charlie was running an errand for his boss that would arguably be a work-related task, but once he leaves the cleaners, he has returned to his regular commute route.

He could, however, file a personal injury lawsuit against the bicyclist and recover damages for the rider’s negligence.

On the flip side, if an accident happened while Charlie was at the cleaners’, his attorney could argue that he was completing a task required by his boss, which would make him eligible for workers’ compensation.