An electronics technician was injured while playing volleyball at a company gathering.
According to the case file, the man underwent several treatments and social-security leaves before fully recovering.
At first instance, the company liability was rejected. On appeal, the decision was reversed. The appellate judges considered that the claimant was outside working hours when the incident occurred.
Before the TST, reporting justice Douglas Alencar Rodrigues observed that the worker participated in the gathering and in the volleyball game voluntarily.
The judge found no indication of coercion or retaliation in the event of refusal. There was also no finding that the company failed to provide assistance to the employee after the accident.
Rodrigues emphasized that the claimant was not performing any activity related to his duties as an electronics technician and was not within his working hours. In other words, there was no causal link between the knee injury and the worker activities on behalf of the company.
In his view, the accident was an unforeseeable external event unrelated to the business activity, something that could have occurred in any other recreational environment or to any other person practicing sport.
The justice stated that employer liability requires action or omission, fault or intent, damage and a causal relationship. The absence of any of these elements excludes liability and, consequently, the duty to compensate.
The decision also noted that, in similar cases involving accidents in competitions or company gatherings with voluntary employee participation, the TST has rejected employer liability for damages.
ARR 21165-89.2014.5.04.0030
Source: Conjur
