It can be very difficult for an employee to prove that his or her injures were caused by an incident that was out of his or her hands, especially if those injuries occurred due to violating a company rule. In the Minnesota case of Smith v. Metro Transit, a bus driver working for Metro Transit was injured after violating the rule of leaving the driver’s seat. Since the violation was clear, the bus driver was denied workers' comp.u
Now the law is different in each state, but in my state, the violation of a positive work rule is an affirmative defense in which the employer must establish three criteria: (1) the injury was, in fact, caused by the violation of the order or rule, (2) the employee actually knew of the order or rule, and (3) the order or rule implicated an activity not connected with the employee’s work duties.
