 |
 |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Personal Injury Lawyers in your area.
|
|
|
|
|
Custer v. Hartford Insurance Co.8/23/2005
away from his employer's premises to perform various job duties and who was provided with a company car for such travel. Hartford paid all expenses on the vehicle. On the date of his injury, he traveled to a golf course in another city in another county in order to take part in a golf tournament at the direction of his employer. He was clearly along the route home, following the directions provided by his employer, when his injury occurred. Accordingly, the "journey" exception is applicable, and the Commission did not err in finding that Custer's injury occurred in the course and scope of his employment with Hartford.
Even if we were to assume, however, that Custer was not an employee whose work entailed travel away from his employer's premises, his travel to and from the golf tournament sponsored by his employer would be deemed to be part of the course and scope of his employment because he was on a "special errand" for his employer. "The 'special errand' rule states that when an employee, having identifiable time and space limits on his employment, makes an off-premises journey which would normally not be covered under the usual going and coming rule, the journey may be brought within the course of employment by the fact that the trouble and time of making the journey, or the special inconvenience, hazard, or urgency of making it in the particular circumstances, is itself sufficiently substantial to be viewed as an integral part of the service itself." Hilton, 892 S.W.2d at 634; See also Larson 's Workers Compensation Law, Section 14.05 (2004). "Thus, while the general rule is that accidents incurred while an employee is going to or coming from work are not compensable because they do not arise out of and in the course of employment, that rule is not applicable where the employee during that period performs a special task, service or errand in connection with [his or] her employment." Hilton, 892 S.W.2d at 630. "'Such circumstance might be better characterized as causing a trip made in performing such a special task to be a part of the employment.'" Id. (quoting Delozier v. Munlake Constr. Co., 657 S.W.2d 53, 55-56 (Mo. App. S.D. 1983)).
In the case at bar, Hartford ordered Custer to participate in a golf tournament that it was sponsoring 30 to 40 miles away from his office and from his home. The record reflects that this course was quite a bit further away from the office than the golf course he usually played on for business purposes and that the he had never been to this particular course before. Returning from the course, Custer would have driven past the Hartford offices on his way home, which was approximately twelve minutes further from the golf course than his office. He participated in the tournament and the subsequent dinner for the purposes of his employer and at the direction of his employer. Thus, Custer was exposed to the special inconvenience of driving 30 to 40 miles to the golf course, where he worked into the evening for his employer, and was then exposed to another 30 to 40 mile drive on a dark, rainy night to get back home. Viewed as a whole, the additional trouble, time, inconvenience, and hazard involved in making this trip for Hartford was sufficient for this to constitute a "special errand" for his employer and the coming and going rule was not applicable.
The Commission's award is also sustainable under the "dual-purpose doctrine". "Under the dual-purpose doctrine, which is normally applied only to a situation involving travel, if the work of the employee creates the necessity for travel, he is in the course of his employment, though he is serving at the same time some purpose of his own." Id . at 631. " f the trip as a whole was sufficiently motivated by the
Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 Missouri Personal Injury Attorneys
Personal Injury Lawyers
|
| |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Personal Injury Lawyers in your area.
|
|