Tovish v. Gerber Electronics

In this workers’ compensation appeal, the sole issue is whether an “outside salesman” was engaged in the course of his employment or in mere preparatory activities when he sustained a fatal heart attack as a result of shoveling snow from his driveway. The named plaintiff, Maureen C. Tovish, suing on behalf of herself and her two minor children, filed a workers’ compensation claim arising out of the death of her husband, Richard Tovish, on January 20, 1987. The defendants, Gerber Electronics and Home Insurance Company, disputed her claim on the ground that the decedent’s death did not arise…