Robarge v. Bechtel Power Corp.

640 P.2d 211, 131 Ariz. 280, 1982 Ariz. App. LEXIS 358
CourtCourt of Appeals of Arizona
DecidedJanuary 26, 1982
Docket1 CA-CIV 5131
StatusPublished
Cited by21 cases

This text of 640 P.2d 211 (Robarge v. Bechtel Power Corp.) 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
Robarge v. Bechtel Power Corp., 640 P.2d 211, 131 Ariz. 280, 1982 Ariz. App. LEXIS 358 (Ark. Ct. App. 1982).

Opinion

OPINION

WREN, Chief Judge.

This is an appeal by Donald and Judy Robarge, appellants, from the granting of a motion for summary judgment in favor of Bechtel Power Corporation, appellee. On appeal, we must determine whether Stephen Pablos, an employee of Bechtel Power Corporation, was operating a vehicle within the course and scope of his employment at the time an automobile accident occurred. If so, then his employer, the appellee, may be liable for the injuries resulting to the appellants.

Pablos was employed by appellee as a union carpenter at the Palo Verde Nuclear Power Plant, and his regular working hours were from 6:30 a. m. to 3:00 p. m. Because he resided in Glendale, Arizona, which was approximately 50 miles from the jobsite, Pablos commuted to and from work by automobile and, under his union contract, he received a travel subsistence of six dollars per day. On September 25, 1978, Pab-los had completed a regular workday and was driving home in his own vehicle. At approximately 3:35 p. m. he was proceeding eastward on State Route 80 when his vehicle collided with a westbound vehicle in which appellants were riding. Appellants suffered severe bodily injuries. It is uncontested that, at the time of the accident, Pablos had finished his employment duties for the day.

The appellants argue that summary judgment was improper because there existed a disputed issue of material fact. They claim that a determination of whether the six dollar per day travel subsistence was to compensate Pablos for his travel “time” or for his travel “expenses,” was crucial to resolution of the scope of employment issue. Further, appellants argue that the trial court did not have before it all the information necessary to rule on a motion for summary judgment, e.g., the union contract, and therefore, the trial court improperly granted appellee’s motion.

We neither agree that a disputed material fact existed nor accept appellants’ interpretation of the law.

At the outset, we note appellants’ contention that because the union contract was not before the trial court, the travel time/travel expense issue could not be resolved by summary judgment. No explanation is given for the failure to produce the contract, however, the burden was on appellants to “set forth specific facts showing that there is a genuine issue for trial.” 16 A.R.S., Rules of Civil Procedure, rule 56(e). In their response to appellee’s motion for summary judgment, appellants acknowledge that the travel time/travel expense question was yet to be determined, but then go on to state, “[ujntil further discovery is conducted, the answer remains in dispute. If, however, [appellants’] discovery does reveal that the subject payment to Pablos was for time spent in traveling, the potential for [appellee’s] vicarious liability is clear.”

The appellants’ contention that further discovery might demonstrate that a genuine issue of fact existed was insufficient to resist the motion for summary judgment. “[I]f the party against whom a motion for a summary judgment is directed wants to stay in court he cannot withhold an appropriate showing until time of trial.” Perez v. Tomberlin, 86 Ariz. 66, 340 P.2d 982 (1959). 1 Accordingly, appellee argues that appellants failed to meet their burden in opposing the motion; therefore, summary judgment was appropriate for this reason alone. We need not decide whether summary judgment could have been entered solely on this basis because we find that there was no material question of fact and that summary judgment was properly granted as a matter of law. Gibson v. *282 Parker Trust, 22 Ariz.App. 342, 527 P.2d 301 (1974).

It is clear that summary judgment is not proper if undisputed material facts give rise to factual inferences over which reasonable minds could differ. Lundy v. Prescott Valley, Inc., 110 Ariz. 362, 519 P.2d 61 (1974). However, the undisputed material facts in this case do not give rise to contested factual inferences. Instead, “it is the legal conclusions to be drawn from these facts that are in actual dispute and these are properly resolved by the court sitting in its capacity as judge and not in its capacity as trier of fact.” Scottsdale Jaycees v. Superior Court of Maricopa County, 17 Ariz.App. 571, 574, 499 P.2d 185, 188 (1972). For the reasons stated below, we find that the trial court properly concluded as a matter of law, that Pablos was not within the scope of his employment when the accident occurred.

Generally speaking, an employee is not considered to be within the scope of employment when traveling to and from work. State v. Superior Court In And For the County of Maricopa, 111 Ariz. 130, 524 P.2d 951 (1974); 52 A.L.R.2d 287, 303, 311. This is often referred to as the “going and coming” rule. Id. However, appellants maintain the law in Arizona is that an employee is considered to be within the scope of employment while commuting from work if the employee is compensated for travel time. That this is a rule applicable in workmen’s compensation cases is clear. “Certainly when the employer pays for the time involved, the inference should be conclusive that the travel is within the course of employment.” Fisher Contracting Company v. Industrial Commission, 27 Ariz.App. 397, 399-400, 555 P.2d 366, 368-369 (1976); See also, Serrano v. Industrial Commission, 75 Ariz. 326, 256 P.2d 709 (1953). Although appellants concede that workmen’s compensation cases are “not necessarily authority” for cases involving tort concepts of respondeat superior, Throop v. F. E. Young and Company, 94 Ariz. 146, 382 P.2d 560 (1963), we are urged to apply the above stated rule in the present case because workmen’s compensation cases have consistently been used as supporting authority in tort cases and, also, according to the language of a recent tort case, “there are instances when the [workmen’s compensation] principles are particularly apropos and can be invoked.” Anderson v. Gobea, 18 Ariz.App. 277, 280, 501 P.2d 453, 456 (1972).

We are not persuaded that the present case is a proper one for application of workmen’s compensation principles to a tort action. The line separating workmen’s compensation cases from tort law cases is indistinct, for tort cases have cited workmen’s compensation cases as precedential authority, in addition to using similar language when addressing situations common to both and, particularly, when the “going and coming” rule is at issue. See, e.g., Faul v. Jelco, Inc., 122 Ariz.

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Bluebook (online)
640 P.2d 211, 131 Ariz. 280, 1982 Ariz. App. LEXIS 358, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/robarge-v-bechtel-power-corp-arizctapp-1982.