Injury on Work Premises Still Considered Outside Scope of Employment

The petitioner appealed from the order of the Division of Workers’ Compensation dismissing his petition for benefits based on lack of compensability. The petitioner was employed as a delivery driver by the respondent, Next Mile, LLC, a subcontractor for Amazon. He was required to report to work in a parking lot, where he would receive delivery assignments from a dispatcher, who typically wore “Amazon clothing.” One hour prior to his shift, the petitioner arrived to work and sat on the bumper of his delivery truck while waiting for the dispatcher. Sometime later, an individual wearing a mask and an Amazon vest approached the petitioner and shot him. No one else was injured, and nothing was stolen. The administrative judge found that, although the accident had taken place during the course of the petitioner’s employment, it did not arise out of his employment and dismissed his claim for lack of compensability. The Superior Court agreed, stating the requirement that a compensable accident arise out of employment looks to a causal connection between the employment and the injury. The court recognized that workplace assaults are compensable if they are “not motivated by personal vengeance stemming from contact with the employee outside of the employment ... [or] from a purely private relationship entered into by them during the course of their employment.” However, the court found that this assault was more likely motivated by personal vengeance as no other individuals were injured and the incident was not theft related. 

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