Stephen Whigham was injured playing kickball during an event he organized for his employer, Jackson Dawson Communications. He filed a claim for workers' compensation. The commissioner denied the claim because she found the injury did not arise out of or in the course of his employment, and that decision was affirmed by the full commission and the court of appeals. The Supreme Court reversed and remanded, finding that under the facts of this case, Whigham was entitled to workers' compensation because he was impliedly required to attend the kickball game he organized, and therefore, his injury arose out of and in the course of his employment.You'd like to ask what mental contortions the workmans comp commission and the lower court went through to argue that mandatory fun wasn't in fact mandatory. Guess they took a page from the playbook of the Supreme Court.
The important lesson is that one should strictly refuse mandatory fun, especially when physical activities or alcohol come into play.