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Custer v. Hartford Insurance Co.8/23/2005
ld expand the terms of the statute. Moreover, it would raise many unanswered and perplexing questions, such as whether the result would be different if he had played at that golf course regularly, or if the golf course had been only 2 miles from his home, and so on.
Mr. Custer, like the claimant in Bear, was finished with his work-related activities for the day and was free to go home or wherever he wished for his own purposes. His employer was not responsible to get him home safely. There is no ordinary construction of the phrase "course of employment" that would include the activities of Mr. Custer at the time of the accident, though the evidence showed that the employment was positionally related to his injury.
It is not without significance that neither Mr. Custer nor the Commission had a clear theory as to the basis of Mr. Custer's claim. The Commission looked to the "totality of the circumstances," which is arguably a feeling-based test. Mr. Custer's attorney similarly argued that the "bottom line" was the attorney's "strong feeling" that Mr. Custer "was at work." These are not statutory concepts; nor do they give adequate guidance.
Conclusion
The 1925 General Assembly, in my view, intended to avoid a narrow construction of the scope of the act and of words like "accident," "injury," and "course of employment." But I do not believe the drafters intended to expand the employer's responsibility beyond the workplace to include making sure that employees arrive home safely after work. The broad application of words and phrases can go no broader than the boundaries of the plain and ordinary meaning of the terms in question.
The Commission's decision goes beyond the plain and ordinary meaning of the words "in the course of employment." The conclusion reached is not supported by substantial and competent evidence on the whole record. Therefore, I submit that we have no choice but to reverse the award of the Commission.
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