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Virginia Workers Compensation
Workers’ comp case muddied by injured worker’s drug use
Posted on May 14, 2009
A Virginia coal company employee injured on the job tried to file for workers’ compensation after a workplace accident but was blocked by his employer. Why? Because the employee had been taking methadone at the time he was injured.
The employee claimed he was only taking methadone under a doctor’s supervision and use of the drug had nothing to do with his accident. His employer claimed that they did not have to pay for workers’ compensation because the man was taking a “nonprescribed controlled substance”.
During a hearing about the matter the man confessed that he was taking the methadone illegally. It turns out he had lied to his doctor by telling him that he was addicted to several drugs to get the doctor to prescribe methadone. The man planned to use the methadone for pain relief.
The deputy commissioner in the case determined that even though the man was taking methadone illegally, it had nothing to do with what caused his workplace accident. This means that the man’s claim could not be invalidated, and the full commission upheld the award of benefits.
The employer appealed the decision but did not win. Essentially the commission ruled that an employer must prove that an employee’s drug use contributed to his accident. Simply being under the influence of a controlled substance is alone not grounds to deny workers’ comp benefits in Virginia.
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