Johnny Rogers misread the manual for operating a guard on a saw and did not see his co-worker cutting into his hand. Can Johnny Rogers recover under...

Under
worker's compensation, Johnny will not be eligible for recovery compensation due to his injury,
so long as the company can prove he was using the saw incorrectly. Worker's compensation is
reserved for employees who, while performing their duties as assigned, are injured otherwise
compromised, or if the company refuses to pay for something. For example, if the company refuses
to pay for medical bills for work-related injuries that the employee received while performing
their duties correctly, worker's compensation would provide for them. Or, worker's compensation
can be used strictly as the means to pay for those expenses by the company.

However, if an employee is improperly using equipment, gets injured doing something
unrelated to their position or duties, or is injured outside of work, worker's compensation does
not apply. Because of this, Johnny has no legal ground on which to stand for receiving worker's
compensation. Unfortunately, it is Johnny's fault that he injured himself, because he misread
the instructions and was using the saw improperly. If he was unsure of how to operate it, he
should have asked for help or further instruction, but regardless, if he failed to perform his
job duties as assigned, he is not eligible for worker's compensation.

Now, it
is still possible that the company will pay for his medical bills or help him out with the costs
that he will incur, without going through worker's compensation. Many companies have additional
insurance and funds available for situations such as this, and can help when an employee injures
themselves through negligence or improper action. Now, there will still likely be some form of
averse action to Johnny because of his negligenceperhaps termination or probation, but he may
receive aid with his medical bills. Additionally, many employees have Accident Insurance
separately for their work. Often times these insurance policies will cover the gaps in their
regular insurance and help them defray some of the costs of treatment.