Id. at 409, 412. Finally, in Paccia's Case, 4 Mass. App. Ct. 830 (1976), a foreman ordered an employee to work in a trench that had not been shored up, contrary both to instructions from the general foreman and to regulations. Id. at 830.

The court in this case was construing the provisions of G.L.c. 152, § 28, which provides double compensation for an employee whose employer's serious and wilful misconduct causes injury to the employee. The phrase is the same in both sections, and the cases arising under § 28 have adopted the same standards as those under § 27. See e.g., Randolph's Case, 247 Mass. 245, 247-248 (1924); Thayer's Case, 345 Mass. 36, 40 (1962); Gleason's Case, 345 Mass. 759, 760 (1962); O'Leary's Case, 367 Mass. 108, 111-113 (1975); Paccia's Case, 4 Mass. App. Ct. 830 (1976). The pertinent Restatement (Second) of Torts (1965) black letter provisions are these:

At oral argument, counsel for the self-insurer conceded the city had long ago accepted the provisions of § 69 to effect workers' compensation coverage for its "laborers, workmen and mechanics." SeeDonnelly's Case, 304 Mass. 514 (1939) (evincing coverage for City of Brockton laborer who was killed working on a city cemetery construction project); Paccia's Case, 4 Mass. App. Ct. 830 (1976); Stat. 1914, c. 142. It remains an open question whether a city, or any governmental unit, may revoke its acceptance of the act.