SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - A federal contractor must pay for an artificial hip for an employee battered in a bar bet gone bad because it dispatched him to a place where he had to make his own fun -- a remote Pacific Ocean atoll used as a U.S. chemical and nuclear arms dump, a court ruled on Thursday.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit upheld disability payments to a Hawaii man hurt in a barroom incident involving U.S. soldiers on Johnston Atoll, a U.S. possession some 700 miles west of Hawaii.
The San Francisco-based court backed decisions by an administrative board and judge granting disability benefits to Michael Ilaszczat, who required hip surgery after crashing to the floor of a social club on the atoll after he bet soldiers $100 that one of them could not high-kick over his head without touching him. He won the bet but got kicked to the floor.
The appeals court agreed with the earlier ruling that the two-mile-long atoll is a "zone of special danger" because of its isolation and limited recreational opportunities.
"We agree that, under these circumstances, horseplay of the type that occurred here is a foreseeable incident of one's employment on the atoll," wrote Judge Barry Silverman.
Ilaszczat's former employer, Kalama Services Inc., and CIGNA Property and Casualty Insurance Co. contested the awarding of benefits.
Kalama had fired Ilaszczat, who had worked as a store manager for the company, after Johnston Atoll's U.S. military commander barred him from returning because of the barroom hijinks.
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RE: Court OKs Disability Pay for Horseplay Injury...
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Kalama had fired Ilaszczat, who had worked as a store manager for the company, after Johnston Atoll's U.S. military commander barred him from returning because of the barroom hijinks.
Hello!!! This guy obviously does not use good judgement to begin with and takes stupid chances. He should not get awarded money for his stupidity.
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What the heck ever happened to people being responsible for their own stupidity?
hntngirl
Amen.
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RE: Court OKs Disability Pay for Horseplay Injury...
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What the heck ever happened to people being responsible for their own stupidity?
There is none anymore. This correlates with the obese disability claim. Is putting over weight people on disability, directly expounding the problem? I think so.
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RE: Court OKs Disability Pay for Horseplay Injury...
I can't and won't defend the actions of an idiot but I can say from personal experience that duty on an isolated station causes people to do weird stuff. That Johnston Island base, or actually one just a bit further away known as USCG LORSTA Johnston Island was the scene of an incident back in the sixties that had people roaring all the way back to DC. One end of the island was the barracks and electronics shop for the station, the other end was a bird sanctuary for Gooney Birds, thousands of them. The Hitchcock movie "The Birds" had been out a short time and was sent to the island for the crew's viewing pleasure. About halfway through the film one young sailor went a bit looney himself, took the station jeep and drove to the opposite end of the island and drove round and round the tower killing a bazillion gooney birds. The Audobon society went ballistic among other things.
The C.O. of the LORAN "C" station at Pt. Clarence Alaska, had been there a bit too long and one day while "In his cups" took exception to the casual manner of dress the crew had adopted. He threatened to cut the shirt tail off the next crewman he saw on the mess deck without being in the proper dress. The young feller on watch at the time "Didn't get the word" and came wandering onto the mess deck having just come off watch, with his shirt tail hanging out. The C.O. upon seeing him, made good on his threat and whipped out his trusty bowie knife and began chasing the kid all over the station trying to cut off his shirt tail. The kid didn't have a clue what was going on and just ran like hell.
A young Fireman apprentice at the LORAN "C" station in Matratin Libya during 1969 was having a few problems with the Chief Engineman (I was there for this one) the two of them could not see eye to eye on anything. Eventually the FA went a bit bonkers and took his brand new, just delivered from the Air Force exchange in Tripoli, Teac Reel to Reel tape recorder out in front of hte station and beat it to death with a shovel.
These are but a few of the many instances of people on isolated duty doing things that are a bit weird. As I said, I don't support this guys idiocy, but on the other hand I do understand how it can happen.
Court OKs Disability Pay for Horseplay Injury...
