Which term describes a risk that is personal when an employee is assaulted by a third party with a purely personal grievance?

• A. Special Mission Exception
• B. Exclusive remedy
• C. Commercial traveler rule
• D. Personal risk

Answer: (D)

In workers’ compensation thinking, a personal risk is harm that arises from the employee’s own personal circumstances rather than from the job or workplace. If someone is assaulted by a third party who has a purely personal grievance, the injury is tied to the assailant’s personal motives, not to the employee’s work duties or environment. Because workers’ comp covers injuries that arise out of and in the course of employment, this kind of purely personal risk generally isn’t within its scope. That’s why the term described here is personal risk.

The other terms relate to different rules about when injuries are covered or how remedies work, but they don’t describe the nature of the risk in this scenario. Special Mission Exception involves some special assignments, the exclusive remedy refers to workers’ comp as the sole remedy for work injuries, and the commercial traveler rule concerns coverage for traveling salespeople.