[Ares-races] ARES and leadership liability

[N4AOF]

>>Has anyone investigated the liabilities of being a member of ARES 
>>leadership?
>>Does the ARRL provide any coverage?
>>
> No, the League does not.

> Our solution is to have the ARES member also register in the local RACES 
> program.  Thus, the member is covered by the County Workmans' Compensation 
> insurance.

Keep two facts in mind:

1) Workers Compensation insurance covers on-the-job injuries, but would only 
apply for injuries incurred as a result of duties being performed in an 
official RACES activation.  Workers Comp would also provide partial coverage 
for lost wages, but that only applies to the wages the person loses from the 
job where the coverage applies not to wages lost from some other job, so for 
a RACES volunteer there is no coverage for loss of wages because they 
weren't receiving any salary.

2) Workers Compensation insurance does not provide any liability coverage. 
If someone sues you for whatever you did or failed to do as a RACES 
volunteer, city or county government MAY choose to defend you, but they 
probably do not have any obligation to do so (their obligation would depend 
on your state laws).  Again, simply being registered with RACES wouldn't 
make any difference if the act or omission was not committed as part of your 
duties in an official RACES callup.