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CHAPMAN v. BEECH AIRCRAFT CORP.12/8/1995
The opinion of the court was delivered by
This is a workers compensation case interpreting the "special hazard" exception to the K.S.A. 44-508(f) "going and coming rule." Melva Chapman, an employee of Beech Aircraft Corp., was injured while crossing a public street between a company-owned parking lot and the plant where she worked. The Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) entered a workers compensation award, determining that Chapman's injuries arose out of and in the course of her employment. The Workers Compensation Board (Board) reversed the ALJ's findings. The Court of Appeals reversed the Board and reinstated the ALJ's award. Chapman v. Beech Aircraft Corp., 20 Kan. App. 2d 962, 894 P.2d 901 (1995). We granted Beech's petition for review. Our jurisdiction is under K.S.A. 21-3018(b).
We affirm the Court of Appeals and reverse the Board. Chapman is covered by workers compensation .
THE QUESTION
Did the Court of Appeals err in determining that the special hazard exception to the going and coming rule of K.S.A. 44-508(f) applies and, consequently, Chapman's injuries arose out of and in the course of her employment with Beech?
FACTS
The facts are quoted from the Court of Appeals opinion:
"Chapman was injured while going to work as she crossed, on foot, a busy public street (Central Street) in Wichita, Kansas. The street runs between the Beech's company-owned parking lot and the aircraft plant where Chapman worked. Beech owns all of the property on the south side of Central where the parking lot is located for a distance of about one mile. The majority of the property on the north side is also owned by Beech, with the exception of a few residences. All Beech employees who park in the lot are required to cross Central Street in order to get to work. There are three crosswalks available for use by the employees who cross the street in the general area in question. Beech issues parking stickers to its employees which allow them to park in this particular lot.
"On the day of Chapman's injury, January 8, 1991, she was to report for work at 7:00 a.m. She parked in the lot at approximately 6:40 a.m. and was injured when she was struck by a vehicle while she was attempting to cross Central Street in the middle of the block. Chapman was not using any of the designated cross-walks at the time of the occurrence. She had not yet clocked in for work at the
time of the accident. In summary, Chapman was between the premises of her employer on a public street at the time of the injury and had not yet assumed her duties of employment." 20 Kan. App. 2d at 963.
DISCUSSION
The Kansas Workers Compensation Act (the Act), K.S.A. 44-501 et seq., is to be liberally construed for the purpose of bringing employers and employees within the provisions of the Act to provide the protection of the Act to both. The Act is to be applied impartially to both employers and employees. K.S.A. 44-501(g). The burden of proof rests by statute on Chapman to prove "the various conditions of which right depends." See K.S.A. 44-501(a), see K.S.A. 44-508(g).
K.S.A. 44-508(f) provides in relevant part:
"The words `arising out of and in the course of employment' as used in the workers compensation act shall not be construed to include injuries to the employee occurring while the employee is on the way to assume the duties of employment or after leaving such duties, the proximate cause of which injury is not the employer's negligence. An employee shall not be construed as being on the way to assume the duties of employment or having left such duties at a time when
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