Smith v. Workers' Compensation Appeals Board

In this case we consider the workers’ compensation claim of a police officer who injured his hand when he struck a wall with his fist during an argument with a superior officer. The sole issue to be decided is whether the Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board (Board) correctly barred the industrial injury claim of petitioner William Smith (applicant) against respondent City of Hayward (City) when the Board found an intentional injury and invoked the bar of subdivision (a)(5) of Labor Code section 3600. We conclude that the intentional injury defense set forth in subdivision (a)(5) requires proof of a deliberate intent to injure oneself. Substantial evidence of that intent on applicant’s part was not presented in this case. Accordingly, we reverse the Board’s finding that applicant’s industrial injury claim was barred.

Background

The opinion and award of the workers’ compensation administrative law judge (WCJ) sets out the following largely undisputed facts. City had employed applicant for over 22 years as a police officer. On February 21, 1997, applicant injured his right hand when he struck a wall in frustration during a heated discussion with a superior officer…