LOIS Law Firm attorney and Construction Practice Team Partner Tashia Rasul successfully argued to the Board Panel that the Claimant was not within the bounds of her employment during the accident, thus disallowing the claim. The Claimant injured herself while at a local coffee shop during working hours. After a thorough cross-examination of the Claimant and employer-witness, the Law Judge agreed that the Claimant was not within the scope of her employment because there was no authorization for employees to get coffee and, therefore, the employer is not liable.
The Claimant appealed the decision to the Board Panel, citing to case law showing that a coffee break could be compensable. Because of Tashia’s thorough understanding of the facts of the case in conjunction with case law, she effectively unraveled the Claimant’s reasoning, emphasized the absence of an employment relationship, and ultimately concluded that the Claimant’s arguments were misleading and nearly frivolous.
The Board Panel ultimately agreed that the Claimant was not authorized to leave the employer’s premises in light of the well-developed record of testimony, thereby finding that the Claimant’s arguments were without merit. Tashia’s ability to wield legal arguments based on the record and convey the legal principles of Workers’ Compensation is the hallmark of the type of service that only LOIS attorneys can provide.
