Icing the puck is one thing, getting iced in Court is quite another, particularly when it comes to summer hockey.  Eric was a professional hockey player with the Philadelphia Flyers.  At the time he got hurt, he was playing for the Hershey Bears, which was a summer hockey club.  And it was a hot August night when Eric skated into trouble seriously injuring his abdomen and groin.  He made claim under his worker’s comp policy, but the Flyers claimed he wasn’t injured within the scope of his employment because he was playing unauthorized hockey for another team.  Eric admitted his contract specifically provided he had to get permission, but he claimed virtually all professional hockey players play summer hockey and that the management knows it and encourages it.  But the Court held Eric was skating on thin ice and decided to check his argument and chuck his case.  The Court said he failed to prove he was not in violation of his contract.  So Eric is in the penalty box but he gave it a good try.  And, as Wayne Greskie used to say, you miss one hundred percent of the shots you don’t take and it’s not where the puck is, but where it’s going to be.

THIS IS NEIL CHAYET LOOKING AT THE LAW™

Eric Dandenault v. Workers Compensation Appeal Board (Philadelphia Flyers Ltd. and National Union/A.I.G.), Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania, Rodgers, J., 1999 WL 236449 (see script no. 5476)

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