A restaurant cook was taking a smoke break when he was bitten by a co-worker’s dog. The restaurant denied the cook’s workers’ comp claim. How did a court rule in this case?
Sean Sovern worked one day a week as a line cook at the 1912 Hoover House Restaurant in Waynesboro, PA. He also had another full-time job.
On March 16, 2010, one of Sovern’s co-workers said her father would be stopping by the restaurant with her dog. Sovern went outside to have a cigarette after the dog arrived. While on his smoke break, Sovern had a conversation with the co-worker’s father. Sovern petted the dog and let it lick his face. When he went to stand up, the dog growled and bit him on the lower lip.
The restaurant permitted Sovern to take smoke breaks. He was in an approved smoking area, near an ash tower the restaurant supplied for employees’ use.
Sovern missed six days of work because of the dog bite and had numerous medical bills. He had a permanent visible scar on the lower right part of his lip and another scar in the center of his chin.
When he applied for workers’ comp benefits for disfigurement, medical bills and counsel fees, the restaurant denied the claim, saying he wasn’t in the course and scope of work at the time he was bitten by the dog.
A workers’ comp judge held a hearing and as a result granted Sovern’s claim. The judge said Sovern had met his burden of proof that his injuries occurred while in the course and scope of his employment.