Summary
In Feuchtbaum v. Simwitz Bros. Trucking Co., 28 A.D.2d 575, 279 N.Y.S.2d 416 (1967), a union steward was assaulted by two fellow workers, angered by a union-related decision.
Summary of this case from Scullin Steel Co. v. WhitesideOpinion
May 1, 1967
Appeal by the employer and its carrier from a decision and award of the Workmen's Compensation Board on the ground that the injuries sustained did not arise out of and in the course of the employment. It is undisputed here that on May 10, 1965 claimant, a trailer truck driver and shop steward for the union local in his place of employment, was assaulted by two fellow workers, members of a different local, who resented his having made a complaint against them as a result of which they lost their seniority rights. The sole question raised is thus the propriety of the board's conclusion that the assault was sufficiently related to claimant's employment and therefore arose out of such employment. In Matter of Williams v. Leonard Elec. Co. ( 27 A.D.2d 780) we upheld a board determination that an assault precipitated by union matters arose out of employment where it was claimed that it was a purely personal attack, and we find advanced here no reason why the instant determination should not likewise be sustained. It is clear that the board could find that the assault was a direct result of claimant's lawful activities as a shop steward. Nor is a different result mandated because here, unlike in Matter of Williams v. Leonard Elec. Co. ( supra), the assault took place off the employment premises and outside normal employment hours. The record reveals that as he was returning to the employment premises at the end of his working day claimant's assailants requested to see him after he punched out, that after claimant parked his truck and punched out, he went immediately across the street from the employment premises to meet his assailants whereupon the assault occurred. Under these circumstances, the board could properly conclude that claimant had not separated himself from the animosities and danger of employment at the time he was assaulted ( Matter of Field v. Charmette Knitted Fabric Co., 245 N.Y. 139). Decision affirmed, with costs to the Workmen's Compensation Board. Gibson, P.J., Herlihy, Reynolds, Aulisi and Gabrielli, JJ., concur in memorandum by Reynolds, J.