86 A.D.2d 914 | N.Y. App. Div. | 1982
Appeal from a decision of the Workers’ Compensation Board filed October 3, 1980, which held that sustained an accidental injury within the scope of the Workers’ Compensation Law. On May 25,1978, at 7:30 p.m., claimant, employed as a correction officer at the Walkill Correctional Facility, sustained a broken ankle while playing softball on the prison grounds. Claimant’s team was comprised exclusively of coemployees and was managed by a sergeant at the facility. Participation was voluntary. Claimant testified that the essential purpose of the team was to promote employee morale. He further stated that written application to the superintendent of the institution was 'necessary for approval to use the field. The employer acquiesced in the use of its name on T-shirts worn by team members, but it does not appear that the employer provided financial support. Game scores and schedules were posted on the employer’s bulletin board. The board, in reversing the referee’s determination denying the claim, stated: “Upon review, a Majority of the Panel finds, based on the entire record and in particular, the claimant’s testimony, that the claimant did, on May 26, 1978, sustain an accident within the meaning of the Workers’ Compensation Law with resulting causally related disability.” The determination of whether
