 |
 |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Personal Injury Lawyers in your area.
|
|
|
|
|
Chavis v. TLC Home Health Care8/16/2005
o the rule that employees whose work requires travel away from the employer's premises are within the course of their employment continuously during such travel, except when there is a distinct departure for a personal errand. Creel v. Town of Dover, 126 N.C. App. 547, 556, 486 S.E.2d 478, 483 (1997); Cauble, 124 N.C. App. at 528, 477 S.E.2d at 679.
Ms. Chavis's work required her to continuously travel to and from different patients' homes. Therefore, she was "in the course" of her employment while traveling unless on a personal errand. Id.
Indeed, we cannot agree with the dissent's claim that Ms. Chavis does not fit into this "traveling salesman" exception because she had fixed hours of employment. Ms. Chavis's job duty, "designated runner", required her to work for multiple patients in a day. She did not have a guarantee of a fixed number of patients in a day, and was only paid for the actual in-home time with the patients. Moreover, she did not have fixed work hours, as thenumber of patients she worked with in a day varied, which varied her hours.
Furthermore, TLC Home Health Care had a policy that did not permit Ms. Chavis to wait at a patient's home when the patient was not there. On a previous occasion, Ms. Locklear informed Ms. Chavis to "just go get something to eat or just do something till the time she come back, but if she's going to be gone more than an hour or two, you have to go to another client." This policy was in effect to prevent claims of theft against TLC Home Health Care employees and to comply with government regulations. By leaving the Galegos home, Ms. Chavis complied with the orders of TLC Home Health Care and furthered her employer's interests. See Cauble, 124 N.C. App. at 529, 477 S.E.2d at 680 (employee's death was "in the course of" employment where his travel, which included eating in a restaurant, was to further his employer's business and at the direction of his employer even though his death was caused by his supervisor's negligent driving while returning to a hotel).
"It is well-established that a traveling employee will be compensated under the Workers' Compensation Act 'for injuries received . . . while returning to work after having made a detour for his own personal pleasure.'" Cauble, 124 N.C. App. at 529, 477 S.E.2d at 679 (quoting Chandler v. Nello L. Teer Co., 53 N.C. App. 766, 770, 281 S.E.2d 718, 721 (1981), aff'd, 305 N.C. 292, 287 S.E.2d 890 (1982)). Once the deviation has been completed and the direct business route has been resumed, the injury is compensable. Creel, 126 N.C. App. at 557, 486 S.E.2d at 483 (the plaintiff'sinjury occurred "in the course" of his employment when on his way to work the plaintiff stopped off for a drink but had resumed his travel to work when the accident occurred); Martin v. Georgia-Pac. Corp., 5 N.C. App. 37, 43-44, 167 S.E.2d 790, 794 (1969) (the plaintiff's death occurred "in the course" of his employment where, although going to see yachts was a personal detour, once he began to proceed to dinner he "had abandoned his personal sight-seeing mission" and was back within the scope of his employment).
As in Creel and Martin, Ms. Chavis had completed her personal deviation. Ms. Chavis had resumed the direct business route as she was driving on the fastest route to Ms. Galegos's home. Since Ms. Chavis had resumed her direct business route after completing her personal deviation when the accident occurred, the accident occurred "in the course" of her employment. Creel, 126 N.C. App. at 557, 486 S.E.2d at 483.
TLC Home Health Care also argues that the accident did not "arise out of" Ms. Chavis's employment because the accident was caused by her idiopathic condition, not
Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 North Carolina Personal Injury Attorneys
Personal Injury Lawyers
|
| |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Personal Injury Lawyers in your area.
|
|