Sarzillo v. Turner Const. Co.

• Decision Date: 17 December 1984
• Citation: 486 A.2d 349,198 N.J.Super. 29
• Parties: Robert C. SARZILLO, Petitioner-Respondent, v. TURNER CONSTRUCTION CO., Respondent-Appellant.
• Court: New Jersey Superior Court — Appellate Division

Page 29

198 N.J.Super. 29

486 A.2d 349

Robert C. SARZILLO, Petitioner-Respondent, v. TURNER CONSTRUCTION CO., Respondent-Appellant.

Superior Court of New Jersey,

Appellate Division.

Argued Dec. 5, 1984.

Decided Dec. 17, 1984.

Thomas E. Miller, Roseland, argued the cause for respondent-appellant (Robert G. Bressler, Roseland, attorney).

John R. Lanza, Flemington, argued the cause for petitioner-respondent (Thatcher & Lanza, Flemington, attorneys).

Before Judges FURMAN and COHEN.

The opinion of the court was delivered by

FURMAN, J.A.D.

At issue on this appeal is whether an injury suffered in a lunchtime recreational activity at a construction site was compensable under the Workers' Compensation Law. Respondent employer appeals from an award in favor of petitioner.

N.J.S.A. 34:15-7, as amended effective January 10, 1980, bars workers' compensation for an injury suffered in recreational or social activities "unless such recreational or social activities are a regular incident of employment and produce a benefit to the employer beyond improvement in employee health and morale."

Undisputed facts include the following. Petitioner was employed by respondent as a carpenter at a construction site in Bedminster Township. His shift was from 8:00 A.M. to 3:20 P.M. with a paid lunch break of 40 minutes. After eating his lunch on the day of the accident, petitioner and co-employees engaged in a paddle game called Ka-nocka. When reaching down to hit the ball, petitioner slipped and ruptured an Achilles tendon. Petitioner and co-employees supplied the paddles and ball for the game. They had played Ka-nocka 12 to 15 times previously during approximately three months at the site. The nearest restaurant was two miles away.

Accidental injuries during lunch breaks have been recognized as occurring in the course of employment and hence compensable under the Workers' Compensation Law. The Supreme Court so held in Wyatt v. Metropolitan Maintenance Company, 74 N.J. 167, 376 A.2d 1222 (1977), commenting 74 N.J. at 171, 376 A.2d 1222:

Midday meals have long been recognized as in integral part of the work routine. Very early in the history of the act, our courts held that accidental injuries during such breaks would be compensable if the employee was at or near his usual place of work.

Petitioner's injury occurred at the job site during employment hours. The narrow issue before us is whether the workers' compensation judge erred in concluding that the lunchtime Ka-nocka game was a recreational activity within the exception in N.J.S.A. 34:15-7: one which was a regular incident of employment and produced a benefit to the employer beyond improved health and morale. Under the circumstance that petitio...