Rice v. Burlington Motor Carriers, Inc.

839 So. 2d 602, 2003 Miss. App. LEXIS 152, 2003 WL 953399
CourtCourt of Appeals of Mississippi
DecidedMarch 11, 2003
DocketNo. 2001-WC-01684-COA
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 839 So. 2d 602 (Rice v. Burlington Motor Carriers, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Mississippi primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Rice v. Burlington Motor Carriers, Inc., 839 So. 2d 602, 2003 Miss. App. LEXIS 152, 2003 WL 953399 (Mich. Ct. App. 2003).

Opinion

McMILLIN, C.J.,

for the court.

¶ 1. Randall W. Rice filed a petition to controvert with the Mississippi Workers’ Compensation Commission seeking disability benefits after he suffered an injury to his back while in the course of his employment with Burlington Motor Carriers, Inc. (hereafter “Burlington”). The Commission dismissed Rice’s petition for lack of jurisdiction. Rice appealed to the Circuit Court of Pontotoc County and that court affirmed the Commission’s decision. Rice has now appealed the circuit court’s decision to this Court. There is no dispute as to the operative facts of the case. The issue of jurisdiction thus becomes a pure question of law. After a de novo review of the issue of law decided by the Commission, we find no error and, therefore, affirm the dismissal of Rice’s claim for lack of jurisdiction.

¶2. In 1997, Rice was a resident of Pontotoc County when he enrolled in a truck driver training school located in Nashville, Tennessee. During the course of his training, Rice was conditionally offered employment by Burlington; the conditions being that he satisfactorily complete the training regimen in Tennessee and report to Burlington’s facility in Indiana for a physical examination and additional training. After passing the physical exam and completing the supplemental training, Rice was dispatched by [603]*603Burlington on actual trucking runs under the supervision of a more experienced driver referred to by Rice as his “trainer.” Rice completed the first trip that originated in Indiana, and was dispatched from the same location on a second trip for a delivery in Pennsylvania. It was during this second trip that Rice suffered the back injury that is the subject of this claim. The injury occurred in the State of Pennsylvania. After several days of unsatisfactory recuperation, Rice returned to Mississippi where he underwent extensive medical treatment including back surgery. Rice never returned to his duties with Burlington.

¶ 3. Burlington contested the jurisdiction of the Mississippi Workers’ Compensation Commission to award compensation benefits under the facts of this case, arguing that there was an insufficient nexus between this state and the circumstances of both Rice’s employment and his work-related injury to permit the Commission to determine Rice’s claim. The Commission agreed and dismissed Rice’s petition on that basis without reaching the underlying merits of his claim for benefits.

¶ 4. Because the injury in this case occurred outside the geographical boundaries of this state, the only manner in which Mississippi’s Compensation Commission could obtain jurisdiction of Rice’s claim is found in Section 71-3-109(1) of the Mississippi Code. That section provides, in part, as follows:

If an employee who has been hired or is regularly employed in this state receives personal injury by accident arising out of and in the course of his employment while temporarily employed outside of this state, he or his dependents in case of his death shall be entitled to compensation according to the law of this state.

Miss.Code Ann. § 71-3-109(1) (Rev.2000).

¶5. In the case now before us, it is uncontradicted that Rice was offered employment by Burlington while he was in Tennessee attending a driver’s training course and that he was ultimately hired in the state of Indiana. In fact, as a part of the hiring process, Rice signed an agreement that, if hired, he agreed “to be bound by the Indiana Worker’s Compensation Act for any and all injuries ... which I may claim are related to my employment with Burlington Motor Carriers.” There is no contention that, during the brief course of his employment at Burlington, Rice was “regularly employed” in the state of Mississippi. In fact, there is no evidence that he entered the state while performing his duties during his brief tenure as an employee of Burlington. The only connection between this state and the duties of Rice’s employment consisted of his assertion of two things. First was Rice’s testimony that officials of Burlington had told him that he was to be based in Atlanta once he became a fully qualified driver and would be dispatched out of that location, but that he would be permitted to take his truck home with him to Pontotoc between driving assignments. Secondly, Rice reported that job-related correspondence including salary checks were mailed to his home address in Pontotoc County.

¶ 6. Rice places reliance on the Mississippi Supreme Court’s decision in Burn-ham Van Service, Inc. v. Dependents of Moore in support of his contention that Mississippi’s Compensation Commission may determine his claim for benefits. Burnham Van Service, Inc. v. Dependents of Moore, 250 Miss. 165, 164 So.2d 733 (1964). In that case, the evidence showed that Moore, a resident of Gulfport, operated a truck used in moving furniture that was leased to Robert Bates, a resident of Long Beach engaged in household furniture moving. Burnham, 164 So.2d at 735. Bates was engaged in both local hauling [604]*604and long-distance hauling. Id. Because Bates was not licensed to operate in interstate commerce, he sub-leased the rig to Burnham Van Lines under a contract executed in Mississippi so that the business could legally pursue long-distance hauling. Id. at 736. Moore was the principal operator of the rig while engaged in interstate transportation and was dispatched on those trips by Burnham with the understanding that he would return after every such trip to his home in Harrison County to await additional assignments. Id. at 739. It was during one such trip that Moore, while in the state of Ohio, was shot and killed under unexplained circumstances. Id. at 737. The case presented two crucial issues; one being whether, under the facts, Moore was an employee of Burnham or of Bates. The other was whether the Mississippi Workers’ Compensation Commission had jurisdiction of a claim by Moore’s heirs for job-related death benefits. The supreme court decided both issues in favor of the claimants. In addressing the issue of Mississippi jurisdiction, the court noted that the contract of lease was executed in Mississippi, that Moore was a resident of Mississippi, and that all parties understood that Gulfport was the base of operations for the truck. Id. at 739.

¶ 7. In the case before us, none of the contractual documents relating to Rice’s employment originated in Mississippi or had any relation to this state. Rice was recruited as a prospective employee while a student in Tennessee and was offered a contract of employment while in the state of Indiana. By his own testimony, it was contemplated that, after his initial on-the-job training under the supervision of an experienced “trainer,” his duties would consist of hauls originating at Burlington’s operation in Atlanta, Georgia. Even accepting as true Rice’s assertion that Burlington was going to permit him to take Ms rig to his home in Pontotoc County between driving assignments, that appears nothing more than a personal accommodation to Rice and is not the equivalent of an agreement that Pontotoc County would serve as the base of operations for Rice’s activities similar to the arrangement between Moore and Burnham in the Bum-ham Van Service case.

¶ 8. This case, in the view of the Court, is more closely akin to the facts in L. & A Const. Co. v. McCharen,

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839 So. 2d 602, 2003 Miss. App. LEXIS 152, 2003 WL 953399, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/rice-v-burlington-motor-carriers-inc-missctapp-2003.