Working from home: 4 injury cases that could happen to anyone

Working from home has become a much sought after perk for many Australian workers. However, it doesn’t come without its hazards – as you will read about in the four cases we’ll explore in this article.

You may think it’s highly unlikely you’ll injure yourself while making the trip between your home office and, for example, your kitchen. But as you’ll see in the following examples, if you have a staircase or pets wandering around your home, the likelihood of tripping and falling isn’t so remote.

1. WFH council worker breaks arm while looking after puppy

In November 2024, an Adelaide council worker had a huge workers compensation win at the South Australian Employment Tribunal, making national news headlines. The worker, Lauren Vercoe, was employed by the City of Charles Sturt as an asset and operations programmer. She had been in the role since 2012.

The incident took place while she was working from home on 19 September 2022. Ms Vercoe had been given the green light to WFH so she could dog-sit for a colleague’s puppy. She had a pet rabbit, so to keep it separated from the puppy, she installed a 60-centimetre-high metal pet fence. The fence was erected in the doorway of her home office.

Worker trips over fence on way to make coffee

The injury occurred when Ms Vercoe decided to make her morning cup of coffee about an hour after her shift started at 8:30am. She got up from her chair in her home office and attempted to step over the pet fence. She successfully got her right leg over, but as she did, her left foot got caught in the fence, forcing her to lose balance.

Ms Vercoe told the Tribunal that she had tried to grab onto the wall or door while falling. But not being able to grasp anything, she fell forward onto the floor. She fell on her right side, with her knee, arm and shoulder sustaining the brunt of the fall. Ms Vercoe said she felt “instant and extreme pain” and immediately called for her husband, who then dialled 000.

She was taken by ambulance to the Royal Adelaide Hospital and was later discharged the same day with a referral to see a physiotherapist.

Worker claims she broke arm and fractured kneecap

Miss Vercoe told the South Australian Employment Tribunal that she had “x-rays of her shoulder and knee” at the hospital. She said that there “were bits in the image that I believed were to be the break.”

She testified that she wore a metal knee brace for a week and kept her arm in a sling. Ms Vercoe also said that she had experienced a fractured kneecap. There was, however, no evidence that she had spoken to a doctor about her knee.

Given these injuries while working from home, Ms Vercoe subsequently made a claim with the Local Government Association Workers Compensation Scheme in South Australia. She returned to work around six weeks later.

Was the injury work related? Tribunal decides.

The claim was heard by the South Australian Employment Tribunal, which had to assess its merits based on the state’s Return to Work Act 2014. The Tribunal had to work out whether Ms Vercoe’s injury arose out of her employment. Also, whether her employment was a significant contributing cause.

The Local Government Association Workers Compensation Scheme represented the council at the hearing. It argued that Ms Vercoe’s decision to erect the pet fence created an unnecessary hazard. It asserted that the council had no knowledge of the fence and that it was not part of the approved workplace arrangement.

The Scheme contended that the injury did not arise out of employment, as the hazard was unrelated to her work duties. Applying a “but for” test, it argued that the absence of the pet fence would have prevented the injury, making employment an insignificant contributing cause.

Tribunal quashes council’s argument

However, the Tribunal rejected this argument, describing it as “a too narrow view”. It outlined that the workers compensation system operates under a no-fault principle. This means that fault or blame is not a determining factor for eligibility. The Tribunal said that the fact Ms Vercoe “created the workplace hazard the day prior, and unbeknown to the council, does not preclude a finding that it is an employment-related cause.”

The Tribunal also found that her home constituted her “place of employment” on the day of the incident, as she was working from home with the council’s approval. It was determined that the injury occurred during the course of an authorised paid coffee break. The Tribunal noted that taking short breaks was a practice explicitly encouraged by the council. She had been told to “get up from her desk regularly.”

Council ‘abrogated its responsibilities’

The Tribunal examined the council’s work from home policies. This included a checklist issued to staff to assess and mitigate risks in home working environments. However, no checklist was found on the employee’s file, and Ms Vercoe could not recall completing one.

It was accepted that the council had made some efforts to promote workplace safety through the checklist. However, the Tribunal said that it had “effectively abrogated its responsibilities” in terms of ensuring a safe work environment for employees working from home.

Given these findings, the Tribunal ruled in favour of Ms Vercoe’s claim. It is set to consider her compensation following further submissions from both parties.

2. Worker wins compensation after slipping on way from bed to home office

This story, which made headlines in April 2022, comes to us from Germany. It involved an unnamed German man who was working from home as a sales manager. The accident happened on 17 September 2018. While walking from his bedroom to his home office on the floor below, he slipped on a spiral staircase. The man sustained a fractured thoracic vertebra as a result.

He subsequently made a workers compensation claim for the injury. However, his employer’s insurer refused to pay for the claim. It argued that the accident was not covered under statutory accident insurance. So, the man took his case to the German courts.

Court decides compensation case

The claim eventually came before the German Federal Social Court. It noted that the man typically began working from his home office “immediately without having breakfast beforehand.” This fact was important as an employee is only covered by statutory accident insurance during their “first” journey to work.

The claim had previously been heard by lower level courts, which had ruled that the man’s trip from his bedroom to home office did not constitute a commute to work. However, the Social Court disagreed. It ruled that this short trip down the stairs constituted “an insured work route.” The court said that the man “suffered an accident at work when he fell on the way to his home office in the morning.” The man was therefore eligible for financial compensation, however, the amount he received was not reported publicly.

3. Customer service worker slips on stairs while working from home 

Here’s another story that highlights the very real hazard posed by stairs while working from home. In December 2021, a Canadian customer service rep for the airline Air Canada made headlines for their workers compensation claim. The worker, Alexandria Gentile-Patti, was working from home full time due to COVID-19 in the Candian province of Quebec.

The accident occurred during her lunchbreak on 25 September 2020. She had shut down her computer and left her home office to go to the kitchen. The kitchen was located on the first floor of her residence, so she had to go down some stairs to get there. However, as she was making the fifth step on the stairs, Ms Gentile-Patti slipped and fell, sustaining injuries.

She subsequently made a workers compensation claim, which in Quebec can entitle a worker to compensation equal to 90 per cent of their salary for up to two years. 

Employer argued accident wasn’t work related

Air Canada acknowledged that Ms Gentile-Patti had sustained injuries from the fall. However, it argued that they did not occur in the course of work. The airline claimed she had stepped out of her immediate work environment to engage in a personal activity. That is, to make her lunch.

It was therefore up to the Quebec Administrative Labour Tribunal to determine if the incident fell under the definition of a work-related accident. According to provincial law, a work accident is defined as an “unforeseen and sudden event” occurring as a result of or during work.

Tribunal rules in favour of employee

The Tribunal noted that the law does not differentiate between events occurring at the employer’s premises and those happening in an employee’s home. It highlighted that Ms Gentile-Patti was working from home as a direct result of her professional obligation to do so. It also noted that her lunch break was part of a precise schedule imposed by Air Canada.

The Tribunal concluded that the fall represented an unforeseen and sudden event occurring in the course of Ms Gentile-Patti’s work. It ruled that she had suffered an occupational injury and was therefore entitled to workers’ compensation.

4. Worker trips over Shih Tzu while reaching for coffee mug

Here’s another pet-related story of working from home hazards, coming to us from the US. This one made headlines way back in 2019, before WFH became widespread. The worker in question, Tammitha Valcourt-Williams, was working from her home in Florida. Ironically, she worked for an insurance provider, Sedgwick CMS, which offered workers compensation cover.

The accident happened on 27 April 2016. Ms Valcourt-Williams was on coffee break during her workday. She was in her kitchen, when she reached for her coffee mug and tripped over one of her Shi Tzu dogs. The accident saw her sustain multiple injuries to her knee, hip and shoulder.

Ms Valcourt-Williams subsequently filed a workers compensation claim. She argued that the accident happened during her working hours and within the scope of her employment. Her employer, however, refused to honour the claim. It contended that her injuries did not arise from her duties as a claims adjuster.

Employee initially gets win

Ms Valcourt-Williams’ claim eventually came before a Florida compensation claims tribunal, which ruled in her favour. It said that her working from home arrangement effectively merged her home environment with her work environment. The judge stated that Sedgwick had “imported the work environment into the claimant’s home and the claimant’s home into the work environment.”

The company, however, appealed the decision on the basis that the incident didn’t happen during work hours.

Compensation ruling gets overturned

The claim was then examined by the Florida District Court of Appeals, which took a different view to the tribunal. It stated that for an injury to be compensated, it must “arise out of” employment. That is, the employment must substantially contribute to the risk of injury in a manner that would not typically occur during non-work activities.

The court found that the risk of tripping over a household pet while retrieving a coffee cup was unrelated to Ms Valcourt-Williams’ work as a claims adjuster. The court further noted that such a risk existed independently of her employment, as it was a feature of her personal life.

The court concluded that Sedgwick had not contributed to the risk of Valcourt-Williams tripping over her dog. Therefore, the injury did not meet the criteria for workers’ compensation.

Have you been unfairly dismissed?

If you feel you were dismissed for unjust reasons, or if you have faced discrimination or another rights violation by your employer, give us a call today. We at A Whole New Approach are Australia’s leading workplace mediators, with over two decades of experience.

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