In 2010, Bernard worked as a host and waiter at a TGI Friday's (TGIF) restaurant. When new food selections came out, he and other employees often sampled the food so they could make recommendations to

In 2010, Bernard worked as a host and waiter at a TGI Friday's (TGIF) restaurant. When new food selections came out, he and other employees often sampled the food so they could make recommendations to customers. The commission found Bernard "was not required to taste anything" and "did not anticipate being disciplined" if he chose not to sample the food. Bernard v. Carlson Cos.—TGIF, 2011 Va. Wrk. Comp. Lexis 401 (Nov. 23, 2011). In January 2010, Bernard sampled a quesadilla. Though he had never before had problems swallowing food, Bernard choked on a partially chewed bite of the quesadilla. The strenuous process of dislodging it damaged his esophagus.

Bernard filed a worker's compensation claim, contending the injury occurred in the course of his employment and arose out of an actual risk of his employment. He did not allege the quesadilla was unusual or defective in any way. Bernard has had Crohn's disease since childhood. But he did not claim, nor did the evidence prove, that some peculiar quality of the quesadilla triggered his underlying Crohn's disease.

Based on the above scenario, should the The Virginia Workers' Compensation Commission pay the claim filed by Michael Bernard ? Discuss

Also make a comment of these 2 posts

1-      I think The Virginia Workers' Compensation Commission would pay the claim filed by Michael Bernard because although tasting the food is not part of Michael's job description, the choking still posed a hazard to his health. Since he was technically working his assigned hours and it posed a risk to his job. Even though the quesadilla was perfectly normal and did not trigger his underlying Crohn's Disease. I could see an argument made for the VWCC to not pay the claim, but in my opinion they would.

2-      For this event Michael Bernard was a waiter at a TGI Friday restaurant and choked on partially chewed bite of the quesadilla. This unfortunately caused the worker to suffer damage to his esophagus and he ended up filling a workers compensation claim. I feel that Benard should get paid for the workers compensation claim. Before the meal was served the waiter was given the opportunity to taste the food. He was not forced to taste the food; He eat the food on his own will. The quesadilla was not defective in any way, and he had no allergies.

        While Bernard had Crohn’s disease since childhood, there is no evidence that the accident cause issues with his Crohn’s disease. This accident was caused by the careless of the employee. I still feel even though they employee was being careless it was still and unfortunate accident that took place while he was working. This caused a risk to other workers and customers on the site. I would think that this still warrants some kind of workers compensation to the employee. While I can also see why there would be no workers compensation to the employee. Since the worker was being careless and there is no medical reason on why the employee would have choked on the food. I still feel that in the end it would be likely that the TGIF worker would get com

and Please watch the video clip below: Do you agree with the premise that accidents are caused by "Carelessness" of people? Could we eliminate workplace accidents if people were more careful at work? In your opinion what are the main causes of accidents in the workplace?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OtzAE1fc5lg