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Young v. Taylor-White10/20/2005
Phyllis A. Young ("Young") filed a complaint against her employer, Taylor-White, LLC ("Taylor-White"), alleging that she suffered a compensable injury to her shoulder on September 14, 2002, at a company- sponsored picnic. Taylor-White denied that the injury was compensable because it did not arise out of and in the course of employment. At trial, the parties agreed that the only issue before the court was whether Young's injury of September 14, 2002 was compensable.
Background
The pertinent facts as developed at trial are undisputed. Young went to work for Taylor-White in 1999 making television sets and was fifty-four years old at the time of trial.
On September 14, 2002, Taylor-White sponsored a company picnic. The picnic was held on a Saturday, outside of work hours, at a public park off of the company's premises. Young and other employees were informed of the picnic by signs on the Taylor-White plant's bulletin boards and by word-of-mouth from one of the supervisors.
Young testified that she attended the picnic with her friend, Sarah Bales ("Bales"), also a Taylor-White employee, and participated in a number of games. These included a hula-hoop contest, a balloon toss, and a three-legged race. The three-legged races were organized in heats, with the winners of each heat advancing. Young and Bales had won two races and were competing in a third when Young stepped on something and fell, injuring her shoulder. After she fell, Jack Lester, a member of Taylor-White management, came to see what had happened and told Young's sister-in-law to take her to the hospital.
Eddie Cooper ("Cooper") testified that he was a Human Resources Specialist at Taylor-White and that his duties included helping to organize the annual picnic. Taylor-White hired an entertainment company called Funville to organize the picnic. A Funville D.J. played music and organized a number of games at the picnic, including the three- legged race. Prizes were offered to the winners of some of the games, including a $50.00 prize to be split between the two winners of the three-legged race. Taylor-White also gave door prizes to attendees. Taylor-White usually spent between $17,000 and $19,000 on the picnic.
Cooper explained that Taylor-White required employees to sign up for the picnic in advance so that the company could get an attendance count for purchasing food. Upon arrival at the picnic, employees had to check in and received an arm band to wear during the picnic. Neither employees nor management were required to attend the picnic. There were no adverse consequences if an employee signed up but did not attend the picnic, and no one was paid for attending. Cooper said that he did not attend the picnic one year and that there were no consequences for his failure to attend.
Young conceded that she was not required to attend the picnic and was not required to participate in any games at the picnic. She said that the announcer had particularly encouraged her and Bales to participate, referring to them as "Laverne and Shirley," and she felt that the announcer "kept insisting" that she participate in the games. She said, however, that her Taylor-White supervisors did not require her to participate, and she understood that the picnic was a benefit Taylor- White provided to show its appreciation to its employees.
Sarah Bales testified that she did not feel that Taylor-White or her supervisor expected her to attend the picnic or required her to participate in any games. Bales had worked at Taylor-White for five and a half years and had attended the picnic every year but one. She said that there were not any consequences for her failure to attend
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