A worker injured due to an unexplained fall is entitled to workers compensation benefits the Kentucky Supreme Court recently ruled in Vacuum Depositing v. Dever, No. 2008-SC-853-WC (June 25, 2009). The court ruled that the cause of an unexplained fall is presumed to be work-related and the injured worker entitled to workers compensation benefits unless the employer could show with substantial evidence that the injury was not work-related.
What does this mean? It appears that an employee injured due to a fall while working is presumptively entitled to receive Kentucky workers compensation benefits. It should be enough for the injured worker to show that the fall happened while he or she was on the job. If so, the employee is presumptively entitled to benefits. Presumptively doesn't mean completely, however: the employer can still get out of paying workers compensation benefits if it can prove that the fall was not work-related.
Lexington, Kentucky workers compensation lawyer Robert Abell represents employees and workers that suffer a work injury on their claim for Kentucky workers compensation benefits; contact him at 859-254-7076.
