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22 Lewis & Clark L. Rev. 965 (2018)
If Sitting Is the New Smoking, What Does This Mean for Employers: A Look at Potential Workers' Compensation Claims in the Sedentary Workplace

handle is hein.journals/lewclr22 and id is 995 raw text is: IF SITTING IS THE NEW SMOKING, WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR EMPLOYERS? A LOOK AT POTENTIAL WORKERS' COMPENSATION CLAIMS IN THE SEDENTARY WORKPLACE by Natalie Bucciarelli Pedersen* & Lisa Eisenberg** With life in the United States becoming more sedentary each day, the question arises as to what harm we are doing to our bodies when we sit at work for eight hours. As many studies have shown, sitting for prolonged periods of time is quite deleterious to our health. This Article addresses the question of whether injuries or diseases that can be tied to a sedentary workplace could be compensable under the workers' compensation scheme available in some form in all fifty states. The authors then analyze whether, if such harms are covered under workers' compensation, they should be compensable. That is, from a policy perspective, does it make sense to hold employers liable for such harms. INTRODUCTION ........................................................ 966 1. THE DANGERS OF SITTING ...................................... 966 II. THE BENEFITS OF MOVEMENT................................. 967 III. IMPLICATIONS FOR THE WORKPLACE ............................. 969 A. Governmental Responses at Home and Abroad.. .............. 970 B. Corporate Responses at Home and Abroad. ................. 972 C. Ideas for Future Improvement .............................. 975 IV. HISTORICAL ORIGINS AND DEVELOPMENT OF WORKERS' COMPENSATION LAWS ........................................... 977 V. LEGAL FRAMEWORK.. ........................................... 979 A. The Accident Requirement and the Taxonomy of Occupational Harms........................................... 980 B. The Pulmonary Embolism Cases............................... 983 1. In Unusual Exertion Jurisdictions. ........ ............ 983 2. In Usual Exertion Jurisdictions............. .......... 984 3. Potential Policy Implications..... ................... 985 a. The Employer's Duty to Provide a Reasonably Safe and Healthful Work Environment............. ....... 985 b. Workplace Design and Workers' Compensation Reform. 985 4. Renner-A Return to Contributory Negligence?..... ...... 987 a. Whose Burden Is Occupational Harm Anyway? .............. 988 CONCLUSION ................................................. .......... 990 965

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