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Adjei v. District of Columbia Department of Employment Services2/20/2003
Argued January 16, 2003
Justice Adjei asks us to reverse a decision by the Department of Employment Services (DOES) denying his claim for workers' compensation benefits on the ground that he and his employer were exempted from the provisions of the District of Columbia Workers' Compensation Act by the exception to the Act's coverage set forth in D.C. Code § 32-1503 (a-3) (2001). Adjei contends that DOES misconstrued the scope of the coverage exception and misapplied it by disregarding substantial evidence in the record. We conclude otherwise and affirm the denial of Adjei's claim.
I.
Adjei worked for Colonial Dodge, Inc., as a "parts driver," delivering automotive parts and supplies to service stations and other locations in Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia. Adjei claimed that he sustained a cumulative back injury carrying cases of antifreeze on three separate delivery runs, the first two in Maryland and the last in the District. Adjei filed for workers' compensation benefits in both the District and Maryland.
At the time of his injury , Adjei was a resident of Maryland. Colonial Dodge was headquartered in Maryland and was licensed and registered to do business there. Adjei had entered into his employment contract with Colonial Dodge in Maryland, and Colonial Dodge furnished coverage for its employees, including Adjei, under the workers' compensation law of Maryland. Daily delivery run records for the two-week period leading up to the date of Adjei's injury showed that most of his deliveries were in Maryland, and only a handful of delivery runs - thirteen out of two hundred thirty, or fewer than six percent - were in the District of Columbia. The runs into the District were comparable in duration to the runs elsewhere.
The DOES hearing examiner concluded on these undisputed facts that subsection (a-3) of D.C. Code § 32-1503 exempted Adjei and Colonial Dodge from the coverage of the District of Columbia Workers' Compensation Act. The examiner considered the sole point in contention to be whether Adjei worked in the District only "intermittently" within the meaning of subsection (a-3). Adjei argued that the term "intermittently" signified employment that was temporary, part-time or seasonal. The examiner rejected this argument on the ground that the term is used in the statute "to qualify and quantify the actual time in the District of Columbia as opposed to describing claimant's employment as a whole." Since "intermittently" is not defined in the Act, the examiner referred to the dictionary definition of "intermittent" as meaning "coming and going at intervals: not continuous; also occasional." Using this definition, the examiner concluded that Adjei's deliveries in the District were occasional and hence intermittent under the Act.
Adjei appealed the hearing examiner's denial of his claim to the Director of the Department of Employment Services. While his appeal was pending, the Maryland Workers' Compensation Commission disallowed the claim for benefits that Adjei had filed under Maryland law based on its finding that Adjei did not sustain an accidental injury arising out of and in the course of employment.
Thereafter, the Director of DOES affirmed the hearing examiner's denial of Adjei's claim. The Director concluded that " s Claimant only made a few trips in the District, when compared to the trips Claimant made in Maryland, Claimant was properly classified as working only intermittently in the District of Columbia" for purposes of D.C. Code § 32-1503 (a-3). Deeming the other requirements of subsection (a-3) satisfied as well, the Director agreed with the examiner that the District of Columbia did not hav
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