Case name: Behnke v. Bannockburn, Village of /Police
Dept., 12 ILWCLB 70 (Ill.Ind.Comm. 2004).
Ruling: The
Commission affirmed the arbitrator's
decision awarding benefits to a police lieutenant who suffered a slip-and-fall
injury in a parking lot in front of a food store. The lieutenant's job description required
that he make security checks in the early morning hours regardless of the
weather conditions.
What it means: A
police officer's injuries
sustained in a public store parking lot are compensable where he is performing
tasks specifically designated within his job description.
Summary: An on-duty police lieutenant parked in a
lot in front of a food store shortly after 6a.m. His designated patrol duties
included security checks of village business at opening and closing time. As he crossed the parking lot in freezing
rain to enter the store, he slipped and fell on black ice. The arbitrator
awarded benefits, reasoning that the claimant was performing tasks specifically
designated within his job description- crime prevention- in weather conditions
which his job description mandated he work within. Unlike the general public,
which could choose not to go out in freezing rain at 6 a.m., the claimant's job duties and job
description required him to do so. As
such, the claimant's
injuries arouse of and in the course of his employment. Upon review, the
Commission affirmed and adopted the decision of the arbitrator.
