Law Firm Dodges Liability For Company Softball Team Injury

Do employee team-bonding activities -- like softball games -- bring direct business benefits?

It doesn’t look that way, at least not at a major law firm, according to a recent Delaware Superior Court ruling.

Judge Ferris W. Wharton expressed reservations on March 16 in a ruling on a paralegal’s case for worker compensation for an injury sustained at a firm softball game.

“A majority of courts have held that intangible benefits alone are not enough to bring a recreational event within the course and scope of one’s employment,” Judge Wharton said.

William Weller of Delaware-based Morris James ruptured his Achilles ...