Ground Rules How to sponsor a company sports team without losing your jersey.

There's your company name, emblazoned on the back of thebowling shirts your employees proudly wear in their league.You're convinced that sponsoring the team not only gets yourname out in the community, but also increases camaraderie andbuilds company spirit in ways that carry over to the workday. Whathappens, though, if your office manager drops a bowling ball on herfoot? Is she eligible for workers' compensation? What if afight erupts at a bowling tournament and a spectator gets hurt? Orwhat if alcohol flows at the after-game party and a drunkenemployee hits a pedestrian on the way home? Courts deal with thesequestions more often than you'd expect.

Whether the question concerns workers' comp for employeesinjured in a company-sponsored game or liability for the injuriesof a third party, the basic question is the same: How closely isthe company tied to the team or the sporting event? To determinethat, the court often asks these questions: Are the games on theemployer's premises? Are employees expected to play or asked tobuild relationships with customers on the playing field? In effect,is playing on the team part of the employees' jobs?

Consider two recent cases, both involving injuries to employeeswho were playing on company-sponsored softball teams. In NewHampshire, an employee learned during his job interview thathe'd be expected to play on the company softball team. Softballwas so much a part of the company's culture that the companypaid nearly all its team's expenses, including uniforms, bats,gloves, weights and other equipment, plus air fare, hotelaccommodations, meals, drinks and fees for tournaments around thecountry. When the employee injured his knee playing first base, heapplied for workers' comp, claiming the injury stemmed from hisjob.