Construction Laborer v. Employer (Workers' Compensation Review)

A claimant sought review of a decision denying workers' compensation benefits for an injury sustained while working as a construction laborer when a piece of equipment, which the claimant alleged was defective, unexpectedly activated and caused injury, despite the employer asserting the injury was the result of the claimant's own intentional act or deviation from the prescribed work procedure. The court affirmed the denial of benefits, reasoning that the administrative review board properly deferred to the factual findings of the hearing officer, who concluded that the evidence did not sufficiently establish that the equipment malfunctioned as described by the claimant, or that the injury occurred arising out of and in the course of employment under the statutory presumption, thus placing the burden of proof on the claimant which was not met.