Wright v. State Ex Rel. Wyoming Workers' Safety & Compensation Division

2007 WY 101, 160 P.3d 1129, 2007 Wyo. LEXIS 110, 2007 WL 1772118
CourtWyoming Supreme Court
DecidedJune 21, 2007
Docket06-223
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 2007 WY 101 (Wright v. State Ex Rel. Wyoming Workers' Safety & Compensation Division) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Wyoming Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Wright v. State Ex Rel. Wyoming Workers' Safety & Compensation Division, 2007 WY 101, 160 P.3d 1129, 2007 Wyo. LEXIS 110, 2007 WL 1772118 (Wyo. 2007).

Opinion

GOLDEN, Justice.

[11] Dulcie Wright (Wright) appeals a district court order affirming the Office of Administrative Hearings' (OAH) denial of her claim for worker's compensation benefits on the grounds that she failed to carry her burden of establishing a compensable injury. We affirm.

ISSUE

[12] Wright states a single issue for our review:

Whether the decision of the Office of Administrative Hearings denying workers' [sic] compensation benefits was arbitrary, capricious, and an abuse of discretion given that the Claimant met her evidentiary burden of proof establishing that her attendance at the December 18, 2004, fundraising event was within the course and scope of her employment.

FACTS

[13] In December 2004, Wright was employed as a cook and healthcare provider at the Buffalo, Wyoming, branch of Absaroka Head Start (Absaroka). Head Start is a federally funded program that provides daycare services to families with limited income. Parents of children attending Absaroka are strongly encouraged to organize events to raise money for the program.

[14] On December 18, 2004, parents held a fund-raiser at Scotty's Skate Castle in Sheridan, Wyoming. Wright attended the event at the direction of the Buffalo site teacher, Sally Wright (no relation), and took part in the skating activities. While skating, Wright fell and broke her leg. Wright submitted an injury report to the Wyoming Workers' Safety and Compensation Division (Division) claiming she had suffered a work- *1131 related injury, which Absaroka disputed. In a letter to the Division, Absaroka explained why it did not believe that Wright's injury was work related:

When injured, Dulcie [Wright] was attending a Head Start parent activity (roller skating party) on her own time (Saturday, Dec. 18, 2004). She was not getting paid for participating, nor required to attend. Our last actual work day for the year was Friday 12/17/04 and all employees were off until January 3, 2005 on paid Holiday Leave.

[1 5] On January 5, 2005, the Division issued a Final Determination denying benefits, citing the statutory definition of a compensable injury found at Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 27-14-102(a)(xi)(H) (LexisNexis 2005), which excludes from coverage

[alny injury sustained while engaged in recreational or social events under cireum-stances where an employee was under no duty to attend and where the injury did not result from the performance of tasks related to the employee's normal job duties or as specifically instructed to be performed by the employer.

Wright objected, and a contested case hearing was held before the Office of Administrative Hearings. Both Wright and the Division presented witnesses and exhibits at the hearing. The hearing examiner determined that Wright had not met her burden of proving that the injury occurred while in the course and scope of her employment, and denied her claim for benefits. Specifically, the hearing examiner found that Wright had "not shown that her attendance at [the] fund raising activity was a condition of employment imposed by her Employer." Wright sought review in the district court, which affirmed the hearing examiner's decision. This appeal followed.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

[16] When reviewing an administrative agency order, we review the case as if it came directly from the administrative agency, affording no deference to the district court's decision. Hicks v. State ex rel. Wyoming Workers' Safety and Comp. Div., 2005 WY 11, ¶16, 105 P.3d 462, 469 (Wyo.2005);

Newman v. State ex rel. Wyo. Workers' Safety and Comp. Div., 2002 WY 91, 17, 49 P.3d 163, 166 (Wyo.2002). Judicial review of an agency decision is limited in seope to those matters specified in Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 16-3-114(c) (LexisNexis 2005), which provides in relevant part:

(c) To the extent necessary to make a decision and when presented, the reviewing court shall decide all relevant questions of law, interpret constitutional and statutory provisions, and determine the meaning or applicability of the terms of an agency action. In making the following determinations, the court shall review the whole record or those parts of it cited by a party and due account shall be taken of the rule of prejudicial error. The reviewing court shall:
(i) Hold unlawful and set aside agency action, findings and conclusions found to be:
(A) Arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion or otherwise not in accordance with law;
(E) Unsupported by substantial evidence in a case reviewed on the record of an agency hearing provided by statute.

[T 7] Although Wright phrases her issue in terms of an arbitrary and capricious standard of review, the appropriate standard of review in appeals where both parties to a contested case submitted evidence, as in this case, is the substantial evidence test.

In reviewing findings of fact, we examine the entire record to determine whether there is substantial evidence to support an agency's findings. If the agency's decision is supported by substantial evidence, we cannot properly substitute our judgment for that of the ageney and must uphold the findings on appeal. Substantial evidence is relevant evidence which a reasonable mind might accept in support of the agency's conclusions. -It is more than a seintilla of evidence.

Cramer v. State ex rel. Wyoming Workers' Safety and Comp. Div., 2005 WY 124, ¶10, *1132 120 P.3d 668, 671 (Wyo.2005); see also Newman, ¶12, 49 P.3d at 168.

DISCUSSION

[18] To qualify for worker's compensation benefits, a claimant must have sustained an injury pursuant to Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 27-14-102(a)(xi) (LexisNexis 2005). "Injury" is defined as "any harmful change in the human organism other than normal aging . arising out of and in the course of employment while at work ... in places where the employer's business requires an employee's presence. ..." Id. An injury arises out of and in the course of employment when a causal connection exists between the injury and some condition, activity, environment or requirement of the employment. Hanks v. City of Casper, 2001 WY 4, ¶6, 16 P.3d 710, 711 (Wyo.2001); Hepp v. State ex rel. Wyoming Workers' Safety and Comp. Div., 977 P.2d 682, 685 (Wyo.1999). For purposes of compensability, the term "injury" does not include

[alny injury sustained while engaged in recreational or social events under cireum-stances where an employee was under no duty to attend and where the injury did not result from the performance of tasks related to the employee's normal job duties or as specifically instructed to be performed by the employer[.]

§ 27-14-102(2)(x1)(H).

[19] In Cronk v. City of Cody, 897 P.2d 476

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2007 WY 101, 160 P.3d 1129, 2007 Wyo. LEXIS 110, 2007 WL 1772118, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/wright-v-state-ex-rel-wyoming-workers-safety-compensation-division-wyo-2007.