Serious Injuries Caused by Employee’s Attempt “to Ride” Escalator Rail at Annual Sales Meeting Found Compensable (North Carolina)

What a trip to remember! As if it wasn't embarrassing enough for her to remember that she rode the escalator, but she was willing to sit through all of the court hearings regarding it? I guess it paid off..

A North Carolina appellate court recently affirmed a decision by the state’s Industrial Commission that awarded extensive workers’ compensation benefits to an office manager who fell some 25 to 30 feet to a hard surface while trying “to ride” the railing of an escalator following a “festive” gathering for dinner and drinks associated with the employer’s annual sales meeting. The manager worked in Texas and had traveled to Charlotte, NC to attend the four-day meeting, during which various workshops and business meetings were scheduled. The employer had provided alcoholic drinks before dinner, had served wine during the dinner, and paid for drinks in the bar following dinner. At the time of the accident, a group of employees, including the office manager, had begun the return walk to the hotel in which they were staying. The manager climbed onto the escalator railing and attempted to ride it down to the next floor, but fell and sustained serious injuries. A blood alcohol test at the hospital revealed that her blood alcohol level was “sufficient to cause a lack of inhibitory control that contributed to the accident.” The employer contended the injury was the result of a deviation from the employment and/or that the injury did not arise out of and in the course of the employment, but the appellate court, following earlier precedent, held that the claim fell within the "well-established" rule set “that a traveling employee will be compensated under the Workers' Compensation Act for injuries received while returning to his [or her] hotel….”