NAVIGATING INJURIES CAUSED BY HORSEPLAY IN THE WORKPLACE IN IOWA

Under Iowa law, for a workplace injury to be compensable it must both “arise out of” and be “in the course of” employment. Horseplay in the workplace is an activity that may or may not be a deviation from work, and thus not “in the course of” employment for determining if an injury is compensable.

When an employee of the employee’s own volition initiates or engages in horseplay, any injury received is less likely to be compensable because it did not arise out of and in the course of employment. Ford v. Barcus, 261 Iowa 616, 155 N.W.2d 507 (Iowa 1968). The victim or non-participating employee who is injured because of horseplay in the workplace may have a compensable injury. Wittmer v. Dexter Mfg. Co., 204 Iowa 180, 214 N.W. 700 (1927).

The employee has the burden to prove that the injury arose in the course and scope of employment and not because of horseplay; there is no burden shifted to the employer to prove this element. Xenia Rural Water Dist. v. Vegors, 786 N.W.2d 250 (Iowa 2010).

Not all acts of horseplay will preclude an injury from being compensable. The court has consistently held that horseplay is a deviation from the employee’s work. Whether the injury is compensable turns on how far of a deviation from an employee’s typical duties or responsibilities the horseplay is. Id. The Court in Xenia noted four factors to consider when determining whether the horseplay was a significant enough deviation to deny compensability: (1) the extent and seriousness of the deviation, (2) the completeness of the deviation, (3) the extent to which the practice of horseplay had become an accepted part of the employment, and (4) the extent to which the nature of the employment may be expected to include some such horseplay. Id. When the Court applied this test in Xenia, it found that the case needed to be remanded so that the proper burden could be placed and so that it could be determined whether there was a substantial deviation from the employee’s work based on the four factors above. Id.

This post was drafted by Connor Hansen, a law clerk at Baylor Evnen Wolfe & Tannehill. If you have questions about horseplay in the workplace or any other questions regarding Iowa workers’ compensation, please reach out to Paul Barta or Micah Hawker-Boehnke at (402) 475-1075.