PrintA suburban park district should pay a worker's compensation claim to an employee who got hurt playing a sport during his work shift because the activity didn't technically qualify as "recreational," a state appeals panel held Tuesday. Sean T. Murphy, a fitness supervisor at a facility run by the Elmhurst Park District, fractured his right leg in 2002 while playing wallyball -- a version of volleyball that's played on a racquetball court. He sought benefits pursuant to the Workers' Compensation Act, and the park district countered with section 11 of the act to say that employees can't recover for accidents that happen during voluntary recreational programs unless they're ordered by their employer to participate. In his role as fitness supervisor, Murphy said that his duties included promoting and implementing the classes and programs that the district offered to its patrons.
On the day of the accident, Murphy said a co-worker who was off duty asked him to play the game as part of the district's wallyball league. Murphy declined the offer, but the co-worker insisted, saying that the game couldn't be held without him because there weren't enough players. Murphy had played wallyball three times during his shift in the past, and during this game, he injured his leg. Though nobody told him it was mandatory to play the game that night, he testified at an arbitration hearing that he believed that it was part of his job to promote the district's programs. At the same hearing, Murphy's supervisor testified that the district had a policy prohibiting workers from playing in sports leagues while on duty. The arbitrator found that section 11 of the act didn't apply because Murphy was performing duties incidental to his job, and he wasn't participating in a voluntary recreational activity. If Murphy refused to play, the arbitrator held, the game wouldn't have been played and the district would have failed to accommodate its customers. The arbitrator awarded seven weeks and two days of temporary total disability benefits and 50 weeks of permanent partial disability benefits, representing a 25 percent loss of use of the leg. Both the Illinois Workers' Compensation Commission and Cook County Circuit Judge Alexander P. White affirmed. A state appellate panel also affirmed in an 11-page opinion. In its ruling, the appellate panel focused on whether the activity was "recreational." The panel said that it could envision situations in which participation in a wallyball game could constitute recreational activity, but the justices said that didn't apply here. "Similar to a professional athlete, `recreation' is inherent in claimant's position as a fitness supervisor," the panel held. So the court considered why Murphy agreed to play the game, and it concluded that he played to accommodate the district patrons. Regarding the district policy that employees should avoid league sports while on duty, the panel said that "if the policy existed, the evidence presented at the arbitration hearing suggested that it was not enforced." The opinion was written by Appellate Justice Donald C. Hudson. Concurring were Justices John T. McCullough, Thomas E. Hoffman, William E. Holdridge and James K. Donovan. Murphy was represented by Kenneth D. Peters of Cronin, Peters & Cook. The park district was represented by Gary J. Wallace and Richard A. Kimnach of Nyhan, Bambrick, Kinzie & Lowry P.C.; and Edward F. Dutton of the Park District Risk Management Agency. Elmhurst Park District v. Industrial Commission of Illinois and Sean T. Murphy, No 1-08-2289WC
