Lyme Disease-Groundskeeper Awarded Benefits

A groundskeeper working at a local country club was found to have contracted Lyme disease. His job included picking up trees and tree limbs, maintaining the lawn and maintaining the grounds at the golf course all year round.

During the summer of 1991 the groundskeeper began experiencing fatigue and drowsiness. His treating physician diagnosed Lyme disease and this was confirmed by a specialist. Both the expert and the examining physician confirmed that the employee performed tasks in a manner consistent with the methods of contracting Lyme disease. The exact date the ill worker was bitten by the tick was unknown.

Even though the employee lived in a residential town and kept a dog and cat in his fenced in backyard, the Court concluded that it was more probable than not that the employee contracted the disease in the course of his employment. Bird v. Somerset Hills Country Club, A-3595-96T2 (App. Div. 1998).