Substance abuse contributes dramatically to job injuries. Suppose you have an employee with a drug or alcohol problem. If he injures himself because he’s drunk or high and can’t control his power saw, would his injury be covered by worker’s compensation? Yes indeed. Even if he was so blind drunk that he caused the injury by passing out onto a table saw, he’s still covered. This is why your worker’s comp insurance carrier gets so huffy about substance abuse on the job. Suppose your drunk or high employee injures another employee. Could the injured employee get worker’s comp money from you? If he gets himself a good lawyer, he may be able to do better than that. Gross Negligence Normally, the
