Could Drowsy Security Guard Recover Benefits after Falling Asleep at Wheel?

What Do You Think?

Employers may have to provide workers’ compensation benefits when an employee is injured while driving for the company. But is that also true when an employee is injured solely because he was tired and fell asleep at the wheel? A case involving an ADT patrol officer addresses that question.

The patrol officer fell asleep while responding to a call. He hit a car in front of him, causing the airbags to deploy. He sought workers’ compensation benefits for his head and leg injuries.

A hearing officer denied the claim on the basis that the injuries did not arise out of employment. The claimant challenged the denial, claiming his injuries fell under the “street-risk rule.”

To be compensable, an injury must occur in the course and scope of employment and arise out of employment. Under the street-risk rule, an injury that occurs while an employee is driving arises out of employment only if:

1. The employee's duties require a presence on public streets; and 
2. The injury was caused by a risk inherent to traveling on streets.

Did the patrol officer’s injuries arise out of his employment?

A. No. The cause of the accident was not the job itself, but merely his dozing off at the wheel. 

B. Yes. His job required him to drive on public streets.

If you selected Answer A, you agreed with the court in Bright v. ADT Security Services, Inc., No. 89262-COA (Nev. Ct. App. 12/18/25), which held that the claim was not compensable.

To recover under the street-risk rule, an employee must show his injuries related to some risk involved within the scope of employment. But here, the injuries were caused “solely by the risk of falling asleep,” the appeals court said. Falling asleep behind the wheel should not be deemed a risk inherent to the streets, the court said, but instead should be treated as a non-job risk more like a medical condition.

Further, this was not a case where the claimant pointed to some actual risk of the road as causing the accident. Had he, for example, established that he fell asleep due to some condition of employment, such as overly long hours, he might have had a compensable claim. 

The court affirmed the denial of the claim.

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