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Zoucha v. Touch of Class Lounge1/14/2005
as required to go to the bank to make the night deposit, but the other employee, S.K., was simply getting a ride home from P.A.M. and had no remaining duties to perform. As they were getting into P.A.M.'s automobile, they were assaulted and robbed. We concluded that P.A.M.'s injuries arose out of and in the course of her employment, because she was on her employer's premises and on her way to the bank to make the night deposit, a duty for which she received compensation. But we also concluded that S.K.'s injuries arose out of and in the course of her employment.
While the situation with regard to S.K. may at first blush seem somewhat different, the result must, nevertheless, be the same. Although it is true that at the time the injury occurred to S.K. she was not then carrying out a specific task for the employer for which she received compensation , as was P.A.M., the evidence conclusively establishes that she was injured while on the premises of her employer and while leaving her employment. This has traditionally and consistently been held by this court to be an injury arising out of and in the course of one's employment.
Id. at 647, 380 N.W.2d at 247.
The circumstances of P.A.M., supra, are substantially indistinguishable from the facts of this case as found by the single judge. The evidence in the instant case reveals that Zoucha, while leaving her employment, walked directly from the Lounge to her car, which was parked on the premises of her employer, where she was assaulted. Pursuant to P.A.M., the record establishes that Zoucha's injuries arose out of and in the course of her employment and are compensable under § 48-101. Zoucha's first and second assignments of error have merit, and given our conclusion on those issues, we need not consider her remaining assignment of error.
CONCLUSION
The Workers' Compensation Court erred in concluding that Zoucha was not on the Lounge's premises when she was assaulted and that her injuries did not arise out of and in the course of her employment. The Court of Appeals erred in affirming the judgment of the Workers' Compensation Court review panel. The judgment of the Court of Appeals is reversed, and the cause is remanded to the Court of Appeals with directions to reverse the judgment of the Workers' Compensation Court review panel and remand the cause to the review panel for further remand to the single judge for a determination of the benefits to which Zoucha is entitled, including any attorney fees allowed pursuant to Neb. Rev. Stat. § 48-125 (Reissue 2004).
Reversed and remanded with directions.
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