State Compensation Mutual Insurance Fund v. James

849 P.2d 187, 257 Mont. 348, 50 State Rptr. 302, 1993 Mont. LEXIS 76
CourtMontana Supreme Court
DecidedMarch 25, 1993
Docket92-372
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 849 P.2d 187 (State Compensation Mutual Insurance Fund v. James) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Montana Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State Compensation Mutual Insurance Fund v. James, 849 P.2d 187, 257 Mont. 348, 50 State Rptr. 302, 1993 Mont. LEXIS 76 (Mo. 1993).

Opinions

JUSTICE WEBER

delivered the Opinion of the Court.

This is an appeal by the State Fund of a Workers’ Compensation Court decision compensating claimant for injuries sustained in an automobile accident. We reverse.

The sole issue on appeal is whether the Workers’ Compensation Court erred in concluding that the claimant suffered a compensable injury under § 39-71-407(3)(b), MCA.

Claimant, Christine James was employed by Town House Inns in Butte. She started her employment as a housekeeper in 1987 and was promoted to Administrative Assistant/Sales Director in December of 1987. As part of Ms. James’s duties, she was in charge of the computerized mail solicitation program. Also as part of her duties, she participated in the manager-on-duty program. The latter program required Ms. James to alternate weekend management responsibilities with three other managers.

Ms. James was not on weekend duty the weekend of November 27, 1988. However, the manager on duty had the desk clerk call Ms. James twice on that day because the computer data system involving the computerized mail solicitation program had broken down. Ms. [350]*350James tried to facilitate fixing the system by way of the telephone, but was unsuccessful. She, therefore, went to the hotel to fix the system in person. During a second trip to the hotel, Ms. James and her husband were involved in an auto accident. Ms. James was injured and subsequently missed a month and a half of work.

Ms. James filed a workers’ compensation claim on July 14, 1989. The claim was denied and mediated. She then petitioned the Workers’ Compensation Court and a hearing was held on March 9, 1992. The Workers’ Compensation Court issued its findings of fact and conclusions of law on July 10,1992, stating that Ms. James was injured during the course and scope of her employment and was entitled to compensation. This appeal followed.

Did the Workers’ Compensation Court err in concluding that Ms. James suffered a compensable injury under § 39-71-407(3)(b), MCA?

The Workers’ Compensation Court concluded as a matter of law that Ms. James’s injury was compensable under an established exception to the “going and coming” rule. The rule denies benefits for injuries sustained by an employee traveling to and from his regular work place. Buhl v. Warm Springs (1989), 236 Mont. 363, 769 P.2d 1258. According to the Workers’ Compensation Court, Ms. James’s injuries did occur during travel required by the employer “as part of’ the employee’s job duties, pursuant to § 39-71-407(3)(b), MCA.

The State Fund argues that Ms. James was merely traveling to her regular work place to perform a regular function as Administrative Assistant/Sales Director. Ms. James argues that the events of November 27,1988, are consistent with a special “call in” and that if the employment places the worker in the path of harm and without which the injury would not have occurred, the injury is said to have “arisen out” of the employment.

In 1987, our legislature took official notice of the “going and coming” rule as well as the exceptions which had evolved to it over the years. That 1987 statute reads:

Liability of insurers — limitations. (1) Every insurer is liable for the payment of compensation, in the manner and to the extent hereinafter provided, to an employee of an employer it insures who receives an injury arising out of and in the course of his employment or, in the case of his death from such injury, to his beneficiaries, if any.
(2) (a) An insurer is liable for an injury as defined in 39-71-119 if the claimant establishes it is more probable than not that:
[351]*351(i) a claimed injury has occurred; or
(ii) a claimed injury aggravated a preexisting condition.
(b) Proof that it was medically possible that a claimed injury occurred or that such claimed injury aggravated a preexisting condition is not sufficient to establish liability.
(3) An employee who suffers an injury or dies while traveling is not covered by this chapter unless:
(a) (i) the employer furnishes the transportation or the employee receives reimbursement from the employer for costs of travel, gas, oil, or lodging as a part of the employee’s benefits or employment agreement; and
(ii) the travel is necessitated by and on behalf of the employer as an integral part or condition of the employment; or
(b) the travel is required by the employer as part of the employee’s job duties.
(4) An employee is not eligible for benefits otherwise payable under this chapter if the employee’s use of alcohol or drugs not prescribed by a physician is the sole and exclusive cause of the injury or death. However, if the employer had knowledge of and failed to attempt to stop the employee’s use of alcohol or drugs, this subsection does not apply.
(5) If a claimant who has reached maximum healing suffers a subsequent nonwork-related injury to the same part of the body, the workers’ compensation insurer is not liable for any compensation or medical benefits caused by the subsequent nonwork-related injury. (Emphasis added.)

Section 39-71-407, MCA.

The resolution of this case turns on the meaning of “travel required by the employer as part of the employee’s job duties.” On review, we must determine whether the Workers’ Compensation Court interpreted this subsection correctly. St. John’s Lutheran Church v. State Compensation Fund (1992), 252 Mont. 516, 830 P.2d 1271.

Ms. James relies on Parker v. Glacier Park, Inc. (1991), 249 Mont. 225, 815 P.2d 583. Such a reliance is misplaced as Parker’s situation was quite different from Ms. James’s. Parker was a hotel manager at the Rising Sun Motor Inn owned by Glacier Park, Inc. The day the Inn closed for the season, Parker loaded his car with perishable foods from his Inn and drove them to St. Mary’s Lodge from which the produce had initially been borrowed. When such exchanges occurred it was Parker’s responsibility to see that all loans were repaid.

[352]*352Parker drove to St. Mary’s and returned the produce and had several drinks with the chef at Lake McDonald Lodge and with the chef at Rising Sun. Their discussions centered around business. Parker left St. Mary’s at 12:00 a.m. in order to return to the Rising Sun where he was to speak with the night auditor and prepare for the next morning’s banking. While traveling on this return trip Parker was permanently injured in a single car accident.

We held that Parker acted within the scope of his employment. That scope included such travel between the lodges. Parker was required to travel “as part of’ his job. Such circumstances distinguish Parker from this case. Here Ms. James was not required to travel between various areas during the course and scope of her employment. She was simply traveling to her job site in Butte when the accident occurred.

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State Compensation Mutual Insurance Fund v. James
849 P.2d 187 (Montana Supreme Court, 1993)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
849 P.2d 187, 257 Mont. 348, 50 State Rptr. 302, 1993 Mont. LEXIS 76, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-compensation-mutual-insurance-fund-v-james-mont-1993.