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Davenport v. City and County of Honolulu12/30/2002
egislature has chosen to treat work-related injuries as a cost of production to be borne by industry." Royal State, 53 Haw. at 38, 487 P.2d at 282. Accordingly, chapter 386 is construed liberally in favor of coverage providing "compensation for an employee for all work connected injuries, regardless of questions of negligence and proximate cause." Mitchell, 85 Hawaii at 257, 942 P.2d at 521 (quoting Evanson v. University of Hawaii, 52 Haw. 595, 600, 483 P.2d 187, 191 (1971)).
Many courts have held that self-improvement and participation in training programs for the purpose of promotion does not fall within the ambit of compensability. See Jordan v. Pinellas County School Board, 680 So.2d 448 (Fla. 1996) (schoolteacher's injuries sustained while attending a workshop to maintain certification as a teacher was not in the course of her employment because there was no direction by employer to attend the workshop and thus was so removed from any indicia of control by the employer); Loggins v. Wetumka General Hospital, 587 P.2d 455 (Ok. 1978) (injury caused by nurse's participation in medical training held not compensable because attendance was nurse's decision, on her own time and expense, and hospital did not urge attendance); Haugen v. State Accident Insurance Fund, 588 P.2d 77 (Or. App. 1978) (holding that a police officer could not recover for injuries sustained during self-designed exercise program for the purpose of meeting written job specifications to remain in good physical condition because the employer did not prescribe what must be done to satisfy the criteria and injury occurred at home on the employee's own time). Although these decisions applied a wide variety of analyses and theories, and each interpreted a unique statute, the underlying theme of these cases centered on the employer's involvement or endorsement of the activity that gave rise to the injury.
Courts finding in favor of compensability have likewise emphasized that their decisions rested on the employer's encouragement and other factors linking the employment to the injury . See Meaux v. Cormier, 554 So.2d 285 (La. Ct. App. 1989) (awarding compensation to employee aspiring to be promoted to painter who was injured at a paint demonstration because employer encouraged attendance, benefitted from employee's attendance, and implied pressure on employee to attend); Utah v. Industrial Commission of Utah, 685 P.2d 1051 (Utah 1984) (compensating employee who was injured on her way to training program because she attended at the direction, expense, and for the benefit of the employer).
In Courser v. Darby School District #1, 692 P.2d 417 (Mont. 1984), a teacher sought compensation for injuries he sustained in a motorcycle accident on his way to his master's degree courses taken in order to receive a promotion from the school district. The Montana Supreme Court held that the controlling factors for determining work-relatedness are:
(1) whether the activity was undertaken at the employer's request; (2) whether employer, either directly or indirectly, compelled employees attendance at the activity; (3) whether the employer controlled or participated in the activity; and (4) whether both employer and employee mutually benefitted from the activity. The presence or absence of each factor, may or may not be determinative and the significance of each factor must be considered in the totality of all attendant circumstances. Id. at 419.
Under the totality of the circumstances, the court then held that Courser's injuries were compensable because he was encouraged to pursue the master's degree program, the employer received the benefit of a maintaining qualified teachers, and the school exhibited control by
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