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Floyd v. Taco Mayo/Accord Human Resources6/25/2002
x, we said, "Claimant's presence in the parking lot provided for employees does not ipso facto make his injury compensable." Corbett, at . We affirmed the Workers' Compensation Court based on its factual finding that the claimant was on a personal mission, noting that decisions of the Workers' Compensation Court "are conclusive and binding on appellate courts" and that such findings are "impervious to vacation." Corbett at .
Given the legislative changes that followed Fox and our responses to them the record support for the trial court's factual finding that Floyd's activity when she was injured was personal makes its conclusion that her injury was not compensable "impervious to vacation." Corbett at ; Parks v. Norman Municipal Hospital, 1984 OK 53 , 684 P.2d 548, 552.
Floyd seeks to distinguish this case from Burns, Corbett, and Parks and place it within the ambit of Turner by arguing that her injury was work related because it occurred within the thirty minute period after her shift ended during which the restaurant furnished discounted meals to its employees. We find no analogy to Turner here, however. In Turner the plaintiff's employer required her to be in the shop and ready to greet customers when the doors opened. Thus, she had to be in the parking lot at a time earlier than the shop was scheduled to open in order to fulfil the requirements of her job . Here, however, the record reveals that Floyd was free to leave her employer's premises immediately after her shift ended and remained there only to eat the meal available to her should she decide to eat it. By staying in the restaurant in order to eat a free meal, Floyd was in no way carrying out a requirement of her job.
We reject the notion that the fringe benefit provided by Floyd's employer, a free meal, converted her personal decision to stay and eat that free meal into a duty of her employment or an incident to it, which would subject her employer to liability. We hold, therefore, that the trial court's order finding that at the time Floyd was injured she "was performing personal activities (eating) which were not related to her work duties" is supported by the record and its conclusion that her injury was not compensable is supported by the law.
Finally, we note that the trial court's finding of fact that Floyd was performing a purely personal activity when she was injured is supported by competent evidence. Thus, that finding is "conclusive and binding" on this Court and not subject to reversal. Corbett at , Parks at . Consequently, we affirm the trial court's order denying Floyd's claim.
CERTIORARI PREVIOUSLY GRANTED, COURT OF CIVIL APPEALS' OPINION VACATED, ORDER OF WORKERS' COMPENSATION COURT AFFIRMED.
HARGRAVE, C.J., WATT, V.C.J., HODGES, OPALA, KAUGER, BOUDREAU, and WINCHESTER, JJ. - concur.
LAVENDER and SUMMERS, JJ. - dissent.
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