Aug 2, 2021
Workers’ Comp Concerns Loki Would Have Encountered at the TVA
Marvel’s “Loki” is a popular show that is now streaming on Disney+ to millions of people around the globe. The show stars the mischievous antihero Loki and his adventures at a mysteriously retro and surprisingly corporate workplace called the Time Variance Authority or the TVA for short. While diving into the sort of mishaps we have all come to love and expect from comic book media, Loki encounters plenty of dangers not just from his foes but also from his office, the sort of dangers that make a workers’ compensation attorney’s hairs stand up on the back of their neck.
In this blog, we’re going to take a look at five of the most glaring workers’ compensation concerns and jobsite hazards Loki encounters while working at the TVA:
- Assaults
- Willful disregard of safety protocols
- Drinking on the job
- Working while exhausted
- Property defects
(The series finale has been released, but we’ll still do our best to avoid any big spoilers here. If you know absolutely nothing about the show, though, then there might be some minor spoilers ahead.)
Workplace Assaults
In the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), even plans that start with both feet solidly on a foundation of diplomacy usually degrade into punches and kicks sooner than later. In Loki’s show, things aren’t much different. When watching pretty much any given episode, you can expect a brawl to break out at the TVA or among TVA staff members.
Workplace assaults are a lot more serious than they appear to be in the show, though. Not only are they criminal matters, but they are also grounds for workers’ compensation to be paid to the victims.
In the show, the TVA has armed guards who will fight with anyone the boss tells them needs “pruned.” Even though fighting is assuredly in their job descriptions, the guards in the TVA would be eligible for workers’ compensation benefits if they were hurt badly enough to not be able to work for a while. There are also plenty of TVA workers who end up in a fight even though they aren’t guards. If they were to get hurt, then they’d still be permitted workers’ comp because their time-obsessed employers failed to keep an assault-free and safe workspace for its staff.
Disregarded Safety Protocols & Willful Negligence
How you were behaving when you are hurt at work can have a huge impact on your ability to get workers’ compensation benefits later. This might be a concern for a lot of the main characters in Loki who work at the TVA. A man named Mobius should be especially concerned about the workers’ compensation ramifications caused by intentionally breaking safety protocols.
In one of the early episodes, Mobius willingly breaks protocols to take Loki into Pompeii right as Mount Vesuvius erupts. Needless to say, it is not a safe situation. If he or Loki were injured in the volcanic eruption, then there’s a good chance they wouldn’t be able to claim workers’ compensation benefits later because they both decided to break well-known TVA protocols to pull the stunt.
Insurance companies regularly try to deny workers’ comp claims by citing the claimant’s willful disregard of safety protocols and egregious negligence. Workers’ comp covers workplace accidents, after all, not injuries, so if an injury is caused not by accident, then it might not be covered at all.
Drinking on the Job
Most people like to unwind at the end of the day with a spot of spirits or a cold brew. What’s important is that all alcoholic beverages are enjoyed after clocking out.
After a particularly rough day, Mobius and his supervisor of all people break open a bottle of spirits to celebrate. Except they are still working, which is a problem. In fact, the supervisor often carries an extremely deadly weapon on her person, which is an even bigger problem.
Workers’ compensation claims can be refuted and defeated if the insurance company can prove that the injured claimant was drunk when the accident happened. Now, since Mobius’s supervisor encouraged him to drink, he could potentially have an employment lawsuit on his hands if he was hurt and his workers’ compensation claim was denied, but that’s an entirely different legal question that we won’t go into right now.
Working While Exhausted
Workplace accidents are more likely to happen when an employee is exhausted. An inordinate amount of truck accidents, which are technically work-related for the trucker, are caused by fatigued truck drivers who have been on the road for 8+ hours that day. The same concerns about working while exhausted extend to any workplace, including the TVA.
In the show, TVA staff members seem to get no meaningful rest between shifts. We are shown someone taking a lunch break only once, and then it seems to be right back to work. Even with temporal manipulation, fatigue will eventually set in and the chances of a workplace accident happening will go up.
While researching a plot-heavy conundrum, we see Loki fall asleep at his table, so it is clear that exhaustion can happen even in the time-manipulating TVA, and the corporation needs to do more to ensure it doesn’t. Otherwise, the TVA should anticipate an influx of workers’ comp claims as fatigue-related accidents go up.
Property Defects & Hazards
Last but certainly not least, during his journey around the TVA, Loki encounters plenty of property defects and hazards that are ripe for workplace accidents.
To name only some of the property defects the audience can see at the TVA:
- Multistory elevator with no auxiliary staircase, posing a significant fire hazard.
- Perilous catwalk without any guardrail, posing a serious fall hazard.
- Chamber with the only entrance being a plummet from above, posing a fall and struck-by falling object hazard.
- Virtually no sprinkler systems or fire extinguishers despite there being a truly gigantic library of assumedly flammable paper books and records, making another big fire hazard.
Such property defects can cause a serious accident at a moment’s notice. Not only would an injured TVA agent be eligible to file for workers’ compensation, but there could also be a chance that a court would approve additional punitive damages against the TVA for egregious negligence.
Here For Our Clients, For All Time
While you probably won’t encounter such comic-worthy jobsite hazards as Loki, that doesn’t mean that your claim doesn’t deserve the utmost attention if you’ve been hurt at work. Here at The Law Offices of Nathaniel F. Hansford, LLC in Atlanta, we’re always here for our clients after they’ve been in a workplace accident and need serious help with their workers’ comp claims. We offer free case evaluations to injured workers from all industries, so please don’t hesitate to call (770) 741-2825 and schedule one today.
