The Case of the Compensable Cow Attack

We have shark week. Why not cow week? They are more dangerous! They kill more people. On average cows kill 22 people each year worldwide whereas sharks are responsible for closer to 5 deaths annually. Now, we even have a cow attack as the subject of a workers’ compensation claim. The Idaho Supreme Court recently ruled that a livestock transportation broker was the responsible employer for an employee that was injured while trying to load a cow onto a delivery truck. Apparently, ole Bessie became agitated when the loading process took too long and charged the nearest human. The employee sustained several broken bones and a bruised lung. There was no question that the claim was compensable. The only issue was whether the transportation company was an employer as defined by Idaho’s statute. See Eldridge v. Agar Livestock LLC (Docket No. 49570) for more information.