Official Code of Georgia Annotated

Title 34. LABOR AND INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS · Chapter 9. WORKERS’ COMPENSATION · Article 1. GENERAL PROVISIONS

34-9-17. Grounds for denial of compensation; burden of proof in establishing grounds for denial.

Active

Current through: Including Acts of the 2025 Regular Session of the General Assembly.

(a)
No compensation shall be allowed for an injury or death due to the employee’s willful misconduct, including intentionally self-inflicted injury, or growing out of his or her attempt to injure another, or for the willful failure or refusal to use a safety appliance or perform a duty required by statute.#
(b)
No compensation shall be allowed for an injury or death due to intoxication by alcohol or being under the influence of marijuana or a controlled substance, except as may have been lawfully prescribed by a physician for such employee and taken in accordance with such prescription:#
1. (1)
  If the amount of alcohol in the employee’s blood within three hours of the time of the alleged accident, as shown by chemical analysis of the employee’s blood, urine, breath, or other bodily substance, is 0.08 grams or greater, there shall be a rebuttable presumption that the accident and injury or death were caused by the consumption of alcohol;#
2. (2)
  If any amount of marijuana or a controlled substance as defined in paragraph (4) of Code Section 16-13-21, Code Sections 16-13-25 through 16-13-29, Schedule I-V, or 21 C.F.R. Part 1308 is in the employee’s blood within eight hours of the time of the alleged accident, as shown by chemical analysis of the employee’s blood, urine, breath, or other bodily substance, there shall be a rebuttable presumption that the accident and injury or death were caused by the ingestion of marijuana or the controlled substance; or#
3. (3)
  If the employee unjustifiably refuses to submit to a reliable, scientific test to be performed in the manner set forth in Code Section 34-9-415 to determine the presence of alcohol, marijuana, or a controlled substance in an employee’s blood, urine, breath, or other bodily substance, then there shall be a rebuttable presumption that the accident and injury or death were caused by the consumption of alcohol or the ingestion of marijuana or a controlled substance.#
(c)
With the exception of the rebuttable presumptions set forth above, the burden of proof shall be generally upon the party who claims an exemption or forfeiture under this Code section.#

The notes below are printed with the section but are not enacted law (O.C.G.A. § 1-1-1(c)). They are shown apart from the text.

History

Ga. L. 1920, p. 167, § 14; Code 1933, § 114-105; Ga. L. 1990, p. 1147, § 1; Ga. L. 1994, p. 887, § 2; Ga. L. 1996, p. 1291, § 4.

Law reviews

For article surveying Georgia cases in the area of workers’ compensation from June 1979 through May 1980, see 32 Mercer L. Rev. 261 (1980). For article surveying developments in Georgia workers’ compensation law from mid-1980 through mid-1981, see 33 Mercer L. Rev. 323 (1981). For annual survey of workers’ compensation law, see 57 Mercer L. Rev. 419 (2005). For survey article on workers’ compensation law, see 59 Mercer L. Rev. 463 (2007). For annual survey of workers’ compensation, see 68 Mercer L. Rev. 333 (2016). For note discussing alcoholism and suicide as intentionally self-inflicted injuries under this chapter, in light of Bullington v. Aetna Cas. & Sur. Co., 122 Ga. App. 842, 178 S.E.2d 901 (1970), see 8 Ga. St. B. J. 107 (1971). For note on the 1994 amendments of this Code section, see 11 Ga. St. U.L. Rev. 204 (1994). For comment on Hall v. Kendall, 81 Ga. App. 592, 59 S.E.2d 421 (1950), see 13 Ga. B. J. 245 (1950). For comment on Pacific Indem. Ins. Co. v. Eberhardt, 107 Ga. App. 391, 130 S.E.2d 136 (1963), see 26 Ga. B. J. 111 (1963).

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Current through: Including Acts of the 2025 Regular Session of the General Assembly.

Text read from t34-(v26)-2017-pdf.pdf, Volume V26, 2017 edition, pages 550 to 551; merge action: annotated; file SHA-256 8ee6134ad6cf.

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