A reckless act that the employer could not have anticipated

Release date: January 3, 2019

The employer challenged the admission of a work accident that he blamed on the employee's gross and wilful negligence. When a heavy bundle of cardboard fell off balance on a high beam, the employee's supervisor asked him to move it with the help of another department. He forbade anyone to get on the bundles. When he returned from the other department, the employee saw his brother perched on the bundles, asking for his help, and he joined him. When he saw another 700-pound bundle tip over, the employee threw himself to the ground, causing a sprained wrist and bruises. According to the court, climbing on an unstable surface to tip an unbalanced 500-pound object is an act of such recklessness that the employer cannot be accused of not having anticipated it, nor specifically prohibiting such an act. The employee had been clearly instructed not to climb on the bundles. His injuries occurred solely as a result of his gross and wilful negligence. His claim was denied.

Mitchel-Lincoln Packaging Ltd. v. Adam Raby Marcotte
2018 QCTAT 2444 ((SST), Administrative Judge Pascale Gauthier


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