Kentucky Court: No WC Benefits for Unemployed Volunteer Firefighter

A Kentucky appellate court recently ruled that an injured volunteer firefighter is not eligible for permanent disability benefits because he had no “regular employment” — thus no average weekly wages with which to calculate the award. The ruling, announced last month, affirms the earlier findings from the Kentucky Workers’ Compensation Board and an administrative law judge. The case involved volunteer firefighter David Justice. On May 1, 2009, he was responding to an emergency rescue call while working as a volunteer firefighter.