Ortiz v. Clinton

928 P.2d 718, 187 Ariz. 294, 229 Ariz. Adv. Rep. 70, 1996 Ariz. App. LEXIS 245
CourtCourt of Appeals of Arizona
DecidedNovember 12, 1996
Docket1 CA-CV 95-0559
StatusPublished
Cited by15 cases

This text of 928 P.2d 718 (Ortiz v. Clinton) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Arizona primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Ortiz v. Clinton, 928 P.2d 718, 187 Ariz. 294, 229 Ariz. Adv. Rep. 70, 1996 Ariz. App. LEXIS 245 (Ark. Ct. App. 1996).

Opinion

OPINION

CHRISTOPHER M. SKELLY, Judge. 1

This appeal addresses whether an employee who was intoxicated while driving on the job and who failed to heed his co-worker’s order to stop the vehicle was acting outside the scope of his employment. We hold that the trial court correctly concluded that the employee was within the scope of his employment and that the co-worker’s exclusive remedy against the employee is workers’ compensation benefits.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

Appellant Reneé Ortiz and Appellee Jeremy Clinton worked for Hozhoni Foundation for the Handicapped, Inc. (“Hozhoni”). Hozhoni provides homes and full-time care for individuals with developmental disabilities (“residents”). Ortiz was a weekend home manager for Hozhoni, and Clinton was a residential aide in the home Ortiz managed.

On August 21,1993, Ortiz and Clinton took three residents of the home on a trip in a Hozhoni-owned van. During the trip, Ortiz and Clinton consumed three quarts of beer *296 and one-half of a fifth of tequila. They returned to the home for about an hour before deciding to take the residents to dinner, which Hozhoni employees are encouraged to do.

On the way to the restaurant, Clinton began speeding. Ortiz told Clinton three times to stop, but he refused. Clinton then attempted to pass another car and lost control. The van rolled over into a drainage ditch, seriously injuring Ortiz.

Hozhoni prohibits employees from drinking on the job or engaging in any other conduct that might endanger the residents. Both Ortiz and Clinton acknowledge that their behavior the day of the accident violated these rules. When asked by a State Compensation Fund investigator, “[D]o you feel that you deserted your employment by drinking as you did?” Clinton answered, “Yes. It was a stupid, stupid thing to do.”

Ortiz received workers’ compensation benefits. She and her husband also sued Clinton personally. Clinton filed a motion for summary judgment, arguing that the Ortizes’ exclusive remedy was workers’ compensation benefits pursuant to Arizona Revised Statutes Annotated (“A.R.S.”) §§ 23-1021(A) and 23-1022(A) because Clinton was acting within the scope of his employment at the time of the accident. The Ortizes countered, arguing that Clinton had abandoned his employment at the time of the accident because, due to his intoxication, he was not engaged in any act beneficial to Hozhoni and thus was acting outside the scope of his employment.

The trial court granted Clinton’s motion for summary judgment, agreeing that the workers’ compensation statute barred the Ortizes’ lawsuit because Clinton, pursuant to the respondeat superior doctrine, was acting within the scope of his employment at the time of the accident. Neither his intoxication nor his failure to follow Ortiz’s instructions to stop took him out of his employment.

Following entry of judgment in favor of Clinton, the Ortizes filed a motion for new. trial. The trial court denied the motion, and the Ortizes timely appealed.

DISCUSSION

The Ortizes raise three issues. First, does evidence of Clinton’s intoxication create a question of fact as to whether he was acting within the scope of his employment at the time of the accident and thus preclude summary judgment? Second, did Clinton’s failure to obey Ortiz’s order to stop driving take him outside the scope of his employment? Third, is Clinton’s admission that he deserted his employment by drinking on the job admissible at trial?

Preliminarily, however, the parties disagree about what the phrase “acting in the scope of his employment” means in § 23-1022(A) of the workers’ compensation statute. The Ortizes argue that “acting in the scope of his employment” in A.R.S. § 23-1022(A) is narrower than “arising out of and in the course of his employment” in § 23-1021(A), and that “acting in the scope of his employment” should, consistent with workers’ compensation law generally, be construed so as to protect the injured worker and give the worker every benefit to which he is rightly entitled. Clinton argues that § 23-1022(A) incorporates the respondeat superior doctrine used in tort cases.

A. Test to Determine Scope of Employment

Section 23-1021(A) entitles an employee to workers’ compensation for injuries suffered in an accident “arising out of and in the course of his employment.” The term “arising out of’ refers to the origin or cause of the injury, and “in the course of’ refers to the time, place, and circumstances of the accident in relation to the employment. Scheller v. Industrial Comm’n, 134 Ariz. 418, 420, 656 P.2d 1279, 1281 (App.1982) (citing Peter Kiewit Sons’ Co. v. Industrial Comm’n, 88 Ariz. 164, 354 P.2d 28 (1960)). Ortiz was awarded workers’ compensation benefits under this section, and the parties do not challenge that award here.

The issue here is whether these benefits were the Ortizes’ exclusive remedy against Clinton. Workers’ compensation benefits are an employee’s exclusive remedy for injuries suffered on the job against the employer “or any co-employee acting in the scope of his *297 employment____” A.R.S. § 23-1022(A). This language differs from that in § 23-1021(A). While we have not previously analyzed the linguistic differences in these two provisions before, the California Supreme Court has interpreted two very similar statutes. See Saala v. McFarland, 63 Cal.2d 124, 45 Cal.Rptr. 144, 403 P.2d 400 (1965) (en banc). California law provided compensation to employees for any injuries “arising out of and in the course of the employment.” Id. at 145, 403 P.2d at 401 (citing Cal. Lab.Code § 3600). The right to such compensation was the exclusive remedy for an employee’s injury “against any other employee of the employer acting within the scope of his employment.” Id. (quoting Cal. Lab.Code § 3601) (emphasis omitted). The Saala court addressed whether the phrases “acting within the scope of his employment” and “arising out of and in the course of the employment” had the same meaning. Id. at 146,403 P.2d at 402.

It concluded that they did not, reasoning that the legislature intended to exempt from civil liability only a co-employee’s actions that were within the scope of employment, rather than those arising out of and in the course of the employment. Id. at 147, 403 P.2d at 403.

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

Related

Doe v. Roman Catholic Church
Court of Appeals of Arizona, 2023
Adam Goodman and Paul Underwood v. Blake Auton
West Virginia Supreme Court, 2022
Lane v. City & Borough of Juneau
421 P.3d 83 (Alaska Supreme Court, 2018)
Cundiff v. Cox
Court of Appeals of Arizona, 2016
Gnatkiv v. Machkur
372 P.3d 1010 (Court of Appeals of Arizona, 2016)
Engler v. Gulf Interstate Engineering, Inc.
258 P.3d 304 (Court of Appeals of Arizona, 2011)
Dube v. Desai
186 P.3d 587 (Court of Appeals of Arizona, 2008)
Manu Dube v. Chandra S. Desai and Patricia Desai
Court of Appeals of Arizona, 2008
Higgins v. Assmann Electronics, Inc.
173 P.3d 453 (Court of Appeals of Arizona, 2007)
McCloud v. STATE, DEPT. OF PUBLIC SAFETY
170 P.3d 691 (Court of Appeals of Arizona, 2007)
Salerno v. Espinoza
115 P.3d 626 (Court of Appeals of Arizona, 2005)
Komalestewa v. Industrial Commission
99 P.3d 26 (Court of Appeals of Arizona, 2004)
Laidlaw Transit, Inc. v. Crouse Ex Rel. Crouse
53 P.3d 1093 (Alaska Supreme Court, 2002)
Smithey v. Hansberger
938 P.2d 498 (Court of Appeals of Arizona, 1996)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
928 P.2d 718, 187 Ariz. 294, 229 Ariz. Adv. Rep. 70, 1996 Ariz. App. LEXIS 245, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ortiz-v-clinton-arizctapp-1996.