Guatemalan man’s estate entitled to redress after court says death was linked to work

Quebec’s Court of Appeal has ruled that the family of a Guatemalan farm worker crushed to death in 2021 trying to repair a flat tire on his employer’s car is entitled to compensation.

The high court ruled in majority 2-1 decision that Ottoniel Lares Batzibal was on the job when he died and his estate should have been compensated.

Previously, an administrative tribunal had denied the claim because they didn’t believe the death fit the criteria of a workplace death.

An administrative judge found that Batzibal was using his employer’s car outside work hours and that his “good intentions” to fix a flat tire were not related to his official duties and therefore did not qualify for death benefits.

A Quebec Superior Court judge then dismissed a request for judicial review. The estate eventual