Am I eligible for Minnesota Workers Compensation Benefits?

Before determining what benefits an injured worker is entitled to, the law first asks if that worker is eligible. Under Minnesota work injury law, every employer is required to pay compensation in every case of personal injury, occupational disease, or death of an employee that is arising out of and in the course of employment. “Personal injury” means injury arising out of and in the course of employment and includes personal injury caused by occupational disease. “Occupational disease” means a disease arising out of and in the course of employment peculiar to the occupation in with the employee was engaged. So, for an injury to be compensable under workers’ compensation, the following elements must exist:

1. The employee must sustain a personal injury;

2. The personal injury or occupational disease must arising out of the employment; and

3. The personal injury or occupational disease must occur in the course of the employment.

Let’s look at each of these elements separately:

Types of Injuries and Occupational Diseases
Specific injuries and diseases are compensable as long as they arise out of and in the course of employment. There is no requirement under Minnesota workers’ compensation that the injury be the employer’s “fault” to be compensable.

In addition to an injury caused by a single incident, Minnesota law awards compensation for injuries that occur as a result of repetitive minute trauma brought about by the performance of ordinary job duties. This is called a “Gillette” injury, named after the case of Gillette v. Harold, Inc. Also under that case, repetitive minute trauma is compensable where the work activities aggravate or accelerate a pre-existing condition. To prove a Gillette injury, an employee must prove that there exists a “causal connection between ordinary work and ensuing disability.”

Arising Out of Employment
The phrase “arising out of employment” appears simple. However, this issue is commonly litigated. The Minnesota Supreme Court has refused to give a precise definition to the phrase, choosing instead to use a case-by-case approach. In summary, however, this is the “legal causation test.” For an injury to arise out of employment, there must be a “causal connection between the employment and the injury.”

In the Course of Employment
The term “in the course of” refers to the time, place, and circumstance of the accident causing the injury. This will generally not be satisfied unless the injury occurs on the premises where the employee is working and during the employee’s work hours. There are many exceptions to this, however.

To learn more about Fields Law Firm’s personal injury and workers’ compensation practice please visit their Minnesota work injury attorney website.