Ali M. Shire v. Rosemount, Inc., Self-Insured/Berkley Risk Administrators Company, LLC, Relators, and Twin Cities Orthopedics, P.A., Crosstown Surgery Center, and Minnesota Department of Human Services/BRS, Intervenors.

OPINION

WRIGHT, Justice.

This appeal requires us to interpret an exception to the general rule that an employee injured in the course of employment is entitled to workers’ compensation benefits. Specifically, an employer is not liable for injuries incurred by an employee while participating in an employer-sponsored “voluntary recreational program[ ],” MinmStat. § 176.021, subd. 9 (2014). The Workers’ Compensation Court of Appeals (WCCA) concluded that an employee-recognition event sponsored by relator was not “voluntary” because attendance at the event was the only option by which respondent…