Miles v. Lear Corp.

259 S.W.3d 64, 2008 Mo. App. LEXIS 585, 2008 WL 1862317
CourtMissouri Court of Appeals
DecidedApril 29, 2008
DocketED 89961
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 259 S.W.3d 64 (Miles v. Lear Corp.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Missouri Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Miles v. Lear Corp., 259 S.W.3d 64, 2008 Mo. App. LEXIS 585, 2008 WL 1862317 (Mo. Ct. App. 2008).

Opinions

BOOKER T. SHAW, Judge.

Lear Corporation and its insurer, Zurich North America Insurance Company (collectively Appellants), appeal the decision of the Labor and Industrial Relations Commission finding that an injury sustained by Timothy Miles during a break-time basketball game on Lear’s premises was compen-sable because Miles was paid while engaging in the activity. Appellants contend that the Commission erred because (1) the injury did not arise out of Miles’s employment, (2) the injury was caused by his participation in a voluntary recreational activity and therefore not compensable, pursuant to section 287.120.7 RSMo,1 and (3) the exception under sub-paragraph (b) of the statute does not apply to render the injury compensable because Miles was not paid for playing basketball. The Commission’s decision is affirmed.

Facts and Procedural History

The relevant facts are undisputed. Miles was hired as a union employee at Lear’s Wentzville plant in February 2000. The collective bargaining agreement governing the terms of Miles’s employment provided for one 30-minute unpaid break, during which employees were free to leave the premises, and two 15-minute paid breaks during which they were required to remain on-site in order to resume work promptly. While on breaks, some employees and managers often played basketball in an asphalt area on Lear property just outside the building. The balls, goal, and 3-point line had been there since any witness could recall. On February 19, 2004, Miles injured his knee while playing basketball during a paid break.

The Commission concluded that Miles’s injury was compensable because (1) it arose out of and in the course of his employment in that the basketball games were a regular incident of employment, and (2) although Miles was engaged in a voluntary recreational activity for which benefits are generally forfeited, his injury fell within an exception to that rule because he was paid while participating.

Discussion

Standard of Review

An appellate court shall only review questions of law and may modify, reverse, remand or set aside an award only if the Commission acted without or in excess of its powers, the award was procured by fraud, the facts found by the Commission do not support the award, or there was not sufficient competent evidence in the record to warrant the making of the award. Section 287.495.1. While the court defers to the Commission on issues of fact, questions of law are reviewed de novo. Dubose v. City of St. Louis, 210 S.W.3d 391, 394 (Mo.App. E.D.2006). Appellants present two questions of law.2

Arising Out of Employment

Section 287.120.1 holds an employer liable, regardless of fault, when an em[67]*67ployee sustains an injury “arising out of and in the course of his employment.” An employee has sustained a compensable injury arising out of and in the course of employment “where an employee’s acts were reasonably incidental to commencement of employee’s work and were also for the benefit of the employer.” James v. CPI Corp., 897 S.W.2d 92, 95 (Mo.App. E.D.1995). The benefit to the employer need not be tangible or great. Id.

“Arising out of’ and “in the course of’ are two separate tests. Simmons v. Bob Meats Wholesale Florist, 167 S.W.3d 222, 225 (Mo.App. S.D.2005). Appellants acknowledge that Miles’s injury occurred “in the course of’ his employment but deny that it “arose out of’ his employment. An injury arises out of employment if it is a “natural and reasonable incident thereof,” or, in other words, “when there is a causal connection between the nature of the employee’s duties or conditions under which he is required to perform them and the resulting injury.” James at 94.

The parties dispute the prece-dential value of Seiber v. Moog Automotive, Inc., 773 S.W.2d 161 (Mo.App. E.D.1989), where an employee was injured while playing basketball on her employer’s premises during her unpaid lunch break. This Court found that the employer had acquiesced to the activity in that it had become a regular incident of employment. The following year, the General Assembly added paragraph 7 to section 287.120, creating a forfeiture of benefits for voluntary recreational activities. Appellants assert that the amendment precludes all Seiber-like claims. We disagree. It merely shifts the burden onto the employee to establish compensability under one of the exceptions. The amendment was enacted “to enable employers to limit their liability for recreational injuries that otherwise would have been incidental to the employment." Jones v. Trans World Airlines, Inc., 70 S.W.3d 468, 471 (Mo.App. W.D.2001) (citing Wilson v. Monsanto, 926 S.W.2d 48, 50 (Mo.App. E.D.1996)). (emphasis added) So the scope-of-employment analysis remains central, and Seiber is still instructive. We are not persuaded by Appellants strained attempt to create a significant factual distinction in the level of employer acquiescence in the two cases. Seiber’s employer furnished the court and ball at the union’s request, only allowed the activity during unpaid breaks, and was otherwise indifferent to employees’ participation. Lear furnished (albeit passively) the court and ball, even allowed the activity during paid breaks, and was otherwise indifferent.

Other pre- and post-amendment precedent further supports a conclusion that Miles’s activity was incidental to his employment. In James, the claimant was injured while feeding a parking meter outside her place of employment. This Court found that the “activity was of incidental benefit to employer because parking was necessary to the claimant’s employment. A causal connection existed between the conditions under which claimant was required to perform her duties and the resulting injury.” Id. at 95. Similarly, in Bybee v. Ozark Airlines, 706 S.W.2d 570 (Mo.App. E.D.1986), an employer had a practice of allowing its employees to use company tools for personal use on company premises during breaks. Where an employee was injured in the parking lot while repairing his car, this Court found that the activity provided an incidental benefit to the company because its practice encouraged employees to remain on-site. In Cox v. Tyson Foods, Inc., 920 S.W.2d 534 (Mo.1996), the Supreme Court found compensable an injury that incurred while an employee was returning to work from a trip to a convenience store during his paid [68]*68break, reasoning that “activities for the comfort or convenience of the employee are considered incidental to employment when they occur within reasonable limits of time and place because they benefit the employee and thereby indirectly, benefit the employer.” Id. at 537.

Appellants’ reliance on Wilson is misplaced. In Wilson,

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Fugate v. Jackson Hewitt, Inc.
347 S.W.3d 81 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 2011)
In Re Estate of Pence
327 S.W.3d 570 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 2010)
Missouri Prosecuting Attorneys v. Barton County
311 S.W.3d 737 (Supreme Court of Missouri, 2010)
Skinner v. Morgan
306 S.W.3d 149 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 2010)
Johnson v. Indiana Western Express, Inc.
281 S.W.3d 885 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 2009)
Miles v. Lear Corp.
259 S.W.3d 64 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 2008)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
259 S.W.3d 64, 2008 Mo. App. LEXIS 585, 2008 WL 1862317, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/miles-v-lear-corp-moctapp-2008.