3-29-2011; Grin and “Bear” It—one reason Montana “bears” the U.S. lead in wildly high WC benefits

Man high on dope mauled by Bear, gets work comp benefits. Read it and weep at http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/03/24/brock-hopkins-bear-maul-marijuana_n_840374.html

You have to love this quote from their court—is ‘mind-bogglingly’ a word?:

The Workers' Compensation Court ruled last June that claimant Hopkins was an employee and noted while his "use of marijuana to kick off a day of working around grizzly bears was ill-advised to say the least and mind-bogglingly stupid to say the most," there was no defense evidence presented regarding Hopkins' level of cannabis impairment.

The WCC found Grizzly Bears are "equal opportunity maulers" without regard to marijuana consumption. Analogous to the recent Illinois ruling in Metropolitan Water Reclamation District v. IWCC, we assume the Montana Court felt this was “bear risk” and therefore compensable.