Legal Ramifications

Last night, after putting Helen in her crib, I was heading back to the living room to catch the end of an exciting basketball game, when I fell down the stairs. About halfway down, my bare foot skidded on the carpet and flew off the stair. I lost my balance, and fell on my back and left leg. It brought a quick tear to my eye. I tried not to scream because, you know, heaven forbid I wake up Helen! But I did yelp loudly enough to startle Brian out of his chair.

Since I was the clumsy kid in the family, you won't be surprised to hear that's not the first time I've fallen on the stairs. Once or twice with Helen, even. And it's really painful - I actually rug-burned a big spot my back the last time, and the mark is only just now starting to fade.

I winced a little getting out of bed this morning, and I've already got a nice bruise on my thigh. So I went to the site supervisor and asked about filing a worker's comp claim. I was picturing a couple of days off from the daily grind, making sure I didn't strain my back and that I gave the bruise some time to heal properly.

Get this - the site supervisor said I had already punched out for the day at the crib! Since I wasn't on the clock, I didn't qualify for worker's comp.

Hmmm. Not on the clock, eh? So when Helen woke up at 4:00 a.m. this morning, I could have gotten overtime?

That trip downstairs from Helen's room was not part of my commute home from work. I may have to get a lawyer involved to get this claim pushed through.