Sutkowi v. General Motors, 2010 ACO #14
The plaintiff in this matter was offered reasonable work within his restrictions by the defendant following an accepted work related injury. The plaintiff unreasonably refused to return to work at the job specified by the defendant. Subsequent to the plaintiff’s unreasonable refusal of employment, he underwent a right hip arthroplasty. The magistrate found that the plaintiff’s unreasonable refusal ended when he was completely incapacitated secondary to the surgery. The WCAC agreed with the magistrate.

Key Point: When an employee has unreasonably refused offered work, the unreasonable refusal will be deemed over upon an event that incapacitates him/her from the offered work.