Hall v. Midland Insurance

467 A.2d 324, 320 Pa. Super. 281, 1983 Pa. Super. LEXIS 3889
CourtSupreme Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedSeptember 9, 1983
Docket639-641, 788 and 789
StatusPublished
Cited by15 cases

This text of 467 A.2d 324 (Hall v. Midland Insurance) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Hall v. Midland Insurance, 467 A.2d 324, 320 Pa. Super. 281, 1983 Pa. Super. LEXIS 3889 (Pa. 1983).

Opinions

WIEAND, Judge:

Thomas Hall was injured as a result of an automobile accident which occurred while he was driving home from work in a vehicle owned by his employer. Midland Insurance Company, the insurance carrier providing no-fault coverage on the employer’s vehicle, contends that the accident occurred while Hall was within the scope of his employment and that his only claim against the employer is for workmen’s compensation benefits. If no-fault benefits are recoverable, it argues, the liability therefor must be as-, sumed by Pennsylvania Manufacturers Association Insurance Company, the no-fault carrier providing coverage for Hall’s personal automobile. Whether Hall was within the scope of his employment at the time of the accident was submitted to the trial court on cross motions for summary judgment after counsel had stipulated that the facts were not in dispute and had been developed fully during discovery. The trial court held that Hall had not been in the scope of his employment at the time of the accident and entered summary judgment directing the payment of no-[285]*285fault benefits by Midland Insurance Company. This appeal followed.

Whether an employee is in the scope of employment is a question of law to be decided upon all the facts in a particular case. Sylvester v. Peruso, 286 Pa.Super. 225, 227-228, 428 A.2d 653, 655 (1981); Bethlehem Steel Corporation v. Workmen’s Compensation Appeal Board, 56 Pa.Cmwlth. 438, 443, 425 A.2d 473, 475 (1981). The undisputed facts submitted to the trial court in this case established that Thomas Hall had been employed as a salesman by Peltex, Inc., which provided him with a leased car. Hall was permitted to use this vehicle for business as well as for personal travel. On Tuesday, December 13, 1977, Hall left his employer’s office at the end of the workday and was on his way home, driving his employer’s vehicle, when he was involved in the accident which caused his injuries.

Hall’s normal hours of work were from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. He would generally leave from his home in the morning to see customers and would arrive at his employer’s office in the afternoon. He would work at the office until 5:00 p.m., frequently making telephone calls and arranging appointments for the following day. On some occasions, he would visit a customer after he had left the office at 5:00 p.m.; but on the evening of the accident, he had no calls to make and was on his way home. In fact, the samples, order forms, etc. which he carried with him during business hours had been left at the office because Hall intended to see no customers that evening and planned to go directly to the office on the following morning. He did not take any other work home. Hall did not have an office in his home and did not make telephone calls to customers from his home. Although Hall was permitted to use his employer’s vehicle for personal matters, he was reimbursed only for expenses incurred while using the car for business, and it was for that purpose that he had a company credit card.

“As a general rule the act of going to or returning from work does not constitute a furtherance of the employer’s [286]*286business. As such, an employee so engaged is not engaged in the course of his employment. Susman v. Kaufmann’s Department Store, 182 Pa.Super. 467, 128 A.2d 173 (1957).” Sylvester v. Peruso, supra 286 Pa.Super. at 227, 428 A.2d at 655. Accord: Pittsburgh Hyatt House, Inc. v. Workmen’s Compensation Appeal Board, 62 Pa.Cmwlth. 556, 559, 437 A.2d 461, 463 (1981); LoPresti v. Workmen’s Compensation Appeal Board, 35 Pa.Cmwlth. 7, 11, 384 A.2d 1017, 1019 (1978); Workmen’s Compensation Appeal Board v. DelCimmuto, 23 Pa.Cmwlth. 43, 45-46, 350 A.2d 459, 460 (1976). See also: Plummer v. Wesner, 217 Pa.Super. 24, 26-27, 268 A.2d 144, 145 (1970) allocatur denied August 24, 1970. “This general rule is subject to an exception if the contract of employment includes transportation to and from work, or if the employe does not have a fixed place of work, or if he is on a special mission for the employer.” Schick v. Newspaper Guild of Greater Philadelphia, 25 Pa.Cmwlth. 108, 111, 358 A.2d 127, 129 (1976), quoting Newman v. Congregation of Mercy and Truth, 196 Pa.Super. 350, 353, 175 A.2d 160, 162 (1961). Accord: Setley v. Workmen’s Compensation Appeal Board, 69 Pa.Cmwlth. 241, 243-45, 451 A:2d 10, 11 (1982); Pittsburgh Hyatt House, Inc. v. Workmen’s Compensation Appeal Board, supra, 62 Pa.Cmwlth. at 559, 437 A.2d at 463; Davis v. Workmen’s Compensation Appeal Board, 41 Pa.Cmwlth. 262, 265, 398 A.2d 1105, 1106 (1979); North American Rockwell Corporation v. Workmen’s Compensation Appeal Board, 21 Pa.Cmwlth. 437, 442, 346 A.2d 379, 382 (1975). See also: Crouse v. Workmen’s Compensation Appeal Board, 57 Pa.Cmwlth. 430, 435, 426 A.2d 749, 751 (1981).

Hall’s oral contract of employment did not include transportation to and from work; he maintained his fixed place of work in his employer’s office; he did not conduct business from his home; and at the time of the accident he was not on a special mission for his employer or engaged in the furtherance of his employer’s business. Rather, he was returning home at the end of a normal working day. Under [287]*287these circumstances, the fact that the automobile was owned by Hall’s employer was not sufficient, standing alone, to support a conclusion that Hall’s injuries occurred during the course of employment. See: Gradler v. Prudential Property and Casualty Insurance Company, 464 F.Supp. 575 (W.D.Pa.1979) cited in Augostine v. Pennsylvania National Mutual Casualty Insurance Company, 293 Pa.Super. 50, 52 n. 2, 437 A.2d 985, 986 n. 2 (1981). The trial court correctly held that Hall was not within the scope of his employment at the time of the accident.

Under the priority scheme for the payment of no-fault benefits, the first source of benefits is the employer’s no-fault insurer if an injured employee is the driver or occupant of a vehicle furnished by the employer. 40 P.S. § 1009.204(a). See: Wagner v. National Indemnity Co., 492 Pa. 154, 168, 422 A.2d 1061, 1068 (1980); Borrell v. Continental Casualty Co., 310 Pa.Super. 554, 557, 456 A.2d 1074, 1076 (1983); Augostine v. Pennsylvania National Mutual Casualty Insurance Co., supra 293 Pa.Super. at 53, 437 A.2d at 986. It is only when vehicular accidents occur within the scope of employment that the Workmen’s Compensation Act1 bars recovery by an employee from the employer’s no-fault carrier. See: Wagner v. National Indemnity Co., supra 492 Pa. at 165, 422 A.2d at 1067; Boothman v. Prudential Property and Casualty Insurance Co., 304 Pa.Super. 137, 141, 450 A.2d 139, 141 (1982); Augostine v. Pennsylvania National Mutual Casualty Insurance Co., supra 293 Pa.Super. at 54, 437 A.2d at 987; Adams v. Nationwide Insurance Co., 285 Pa.Super. 79, 83, 426 A.2d 1150, 1152 (1981). An employee “using his employer’s vehicle for private non-work related reasons ...

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Bluebook (online)
467 A.2d 324, 320 Pa. Super. 281, 1983 Pa. Super. LEXIS 3889, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hall-v-midland-insurance-pa-1983.