UPS driver who crashed while drinking beers is not entitled to workers compensation for his injuries
A Delaware judge says a UPS driver who crashed his truck after downing several beers while driving is not entitled to workers’ compensation for his injuries
DOVER, Del. — A UPS driver who crashed his truck after downing several beers while driving is not entitled to workers’ compensation for his injuries, a Delaware judge has ruled.
Superior Court Judge Kathleen Vavala ruled late last week that Delaware’s Industrial Accident Board abused its discretion and erred as a matter of law in awarding compensation to Timothy Willis.
“Voluntary intoxication while working deviates from the ordinary course of employment,” the judge noted, saying the board’s decision “exceeded the bounds of reason.”
Willis crashed his semi-truck into a guardrail in Baltimore County, Maryland, in June 2021. He began his shift the night before in Delaware and drove to Pennsylvania before heading to Maryland to drop off the trailer portion of his rig. Willis was headed back to Delaware to drop off the semi-cab before driving home to New Jersey when he barreled into a guardrail at about 4 a.m.
“Willis typically packs a cooler of beers to celebrate the end of his shift while driving back home; but on the day of the crash, he started early,” Vavala wrote, noting that Willis admitted drinking three beers. “Willis admitted he usually drinks beer and drives on the way home from work; attended AA meetings to curb his drinking; and was drinking and driving sometime before the crash,” the judge noted.
Responding officers saw Willis throwing several beer cans out of the truck. Officers said he was slurring his speech, sweating profusely, smelled of alcohol and had defecated on himself.
Officers found an open can of Miller Lite on the running board of the truck,
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