By Matthew K. Roy
PEABODY — The state's Supreme Judicial Court yesterday ruled that a Peabody High School teacher injured while chaperoning a school-sponsored ski trip was entitled to workers' compensation.
The court found that math teacher Karen Sikorski's volunteering to supervise the trip "constituted work connected to her employment" and obligated the city to cover her claim. Critics of the decision, including Peabody's lawyer, argued that it could force school districts to curtail recreational activities like ski trips because of the increased liability.
Sikorski fell and injured her shoulder while skiing during a trip in January 2004. She filed a claim for medical benefits under the workers' compensation law, but the city denied it, contending that the injury was not covered because it happened during the employee's "purely voluntary participation in a recreational activity."
Two administrative judges separately upheld Peabody's position. But the Industrial Accident Reviewing Board sided with Sikorski on appeal. The city appealed that decision and the Supreme Judicial Court then decided to take up the case.
The city relied on a 1985 amendment to the workers' compensation law that says participants in voluntary recreational activities, even those sponsored by an employer, are not entitled to benefits.
The amendment came about after several cases in which workers claimed benefits for injuries at a company-sponsored softball game, for injuries sustained during an impromptu game of Nerf football at the office and, in another ski-related case, an injury during a ski trip organized by an event planner who then went off to ski on her own and got hurt.
Alan Pierce, Sikorski's lawyer, conceded that if his client went off on her own to ski she would not have been able to file a workers' compensation claim. But she was supervising students when the accident happened.
"In order to accomplish the duties of the chaperone, she had to be on skis," Pierce said yesterday. "She was protecting the interests of the students and the school."
The court's decision extends cities' and towns' liability outside the confines of a classroom, said Brian Barrett, Peabody's lawyer. It might serve as a disincentive for districts to sponsor extracurricular trips, white-water rafting, for example, because of the risk that is now attached to it, he said.
"Unfortunately," Barrett said, "it could have the effect of scaling back these activities."
When a city hires a math teacher, it must take into account that it is liable for injuries he or she suffers on a ski slope, Barrett said. "This is far beyond what municipalities expect."
But Pierce argued that the court's decision will preserve the trips by ensuring teachers' involvement. Without a guarantee of workers' compensation coverage, they would be less inclined to volunteer, he said.
Sikorski — who still teaches math and still volunteers as a chaperone — was an avid skier who regularly volunteered for school events, including the ski club's annual weekend trip. Her injury required surgery and physical therapy.
She was out of school four to six weeks, Pierce said. Yesterday's decision will allow her to get back 60 percent of the sick time she used, he said.
