The Illinois
Industrial Commission held that a fight between claimant and a coworker
was compensable as it was a result of culmination of work-related
friction over a period of time. Claimant was not the aggressor, even
though he made a crude statement to the coworker just prior to being
struck, for the coworker approached claimant after management told him
to leave claimant alone. (Dana Jackson v. Wal-Mart/Sam’s Club, (Ill.Ind.Com),
Nos. 97 WC 57292, 01 IIC 0056, Jan. 24, 2001.)
Claimant, a
stocker, suffered injuries in an altercation with a coworker. Claimant
testified that prior to the altercation, he and the coworker did not get
along. Claimant attributed this to the way the coworker involved himself
in matters that did not concern him and would try to tell claimant and
other employees what to do at work. Claimant stated that on the morning
of the incident, the coworker approached claimant while he was stocking
his own aisle. The coworker commented that "they would get along." The
conversation deteriorated to the point of claimant making a crude
comment while continuing to stock the shelves. The coworker then struck
claimant and a scuffle ensued.
The coworker
testified that he had approached claimant with the intent of resolving
their differences so that they could work together. The coworker
admitted striking claimant after claimant made a crude comment that made
reference to the coworker’s wife.
The
arbitrator awarded benefits, finding that the fight was the culmination
of work-related friction over a period of time. Although the two men did
not get along, the only source of their relationship was their mutual
employment. The arbitrator explained that the coworker’s motivation in
approaching claimant before the altercation was to resolve their
differences so they would be able to work together. This was not a risk
shared by the world, at large, but rather, was peculiar to the
employment. Further, the arbitrator found claimant was not the
aggressor, for the coworker approached claimant after management told
him to leave claimant alone.
Upon review,
the Commission affirmed and adopted the decision of the arbitrator.
