Delgado, Alfredo

Applicant Alfredo Delgado, a utility worker for FCEC/SMG, fell and injured his left ankle and left arm on May 23, 2019 when a co-worker forklift driver gave him a ride across a flooded employer parking lot so he could retrieve his lunch from his car during an authorized lunch break. The WCJ found the injury compensable and the defendant sought reconsideration, arguing the injury did not arise out of or occur in the course of employment and that applicant was engaged in horseplay or barred by his own negligence. The Appeals Board affirmed compensability but amended the decision, rescinding the WCJ's negligence-based findings (Findings 5-9) as irrelevant to the AOE/COE analysis. The Board held that under the personal comfort and convenience doctrine, applicant was within the course of employment, the injury arose out of employment, and the horseplay defense failed because applicant rode the forklift for a work-related purpose (retrieving lunch) rather than for play. The Board emphasized workers' compensation is a no-fault system, so applicant's negligence and violation of the no-riding rule did not defeat the claim.