WORKMEN\u27S COMPENSATION-- ARISING OUT OF EMPLOYMENT --DEATH RESULTING FROM VOLUNTARILY ARRANGED FIGHT

On the first day of his employment as a messenger boy, in the course of being instructed in his duties and shown over his route, the deceased met a fellow employee with whom he voluntarily arranged a fight. There was evidence that the fight was induced by the fellow employee\u27s braggadocio as to his pugilistic ability which culminated in a challenge to the deceased. The encounter took place on a public street. The deceased sustained injuries therefrom which aggravated an existing infirmity and caused his death. From an award of death benefits by the Workmen\u27s Compensation Board, the employer appealed. Held, affirmed. The evidence compelled no finding that the injury was occasioned by the deceased\u27s wilful intention to bring it about or to inflict injury on his adversary but supported the finding that the fight out of which the injury arose was sufficiently related to the risks of employment. The desire for dominance and respect within the ranks of their fellow employees, rather than reasons which were personal, led to the fight. Chanin v. Western Union Telegraph Company, 271 App. Div. 763, 64 N.Y.S. (2d) 670 (1946)