Board of Educ. of Alpine School Dist. v. Olsen

• Decision Date: 13 June 1984
• Docket Number: No. 19076,19076
• Citation: 684 P.2d 49
• Parties: 18 Ed. Law Rep. 1057 BOARD OF EDUCATION OF ALPINE SCHOOL DISTRICT, Plaintiff, v. Wayne A. OLSEN and Industrial Commission of Utah, Defendants.
• Court: Utah Supreme Court

Page 49

684 P.2d 49

18 Ed. Law Rep. 1057

BOARD OF EDUCATION OF ALPINE SCHOOL DISTRICT, Plaintiff, v. Wayne A. OLSEN and Industrial Commission of Utah, Defendants.

No. 19076.

Supreme Court of Utah.

June 13, 1984.

David M. McConkie, Salt Lake City, for plaintiff.

Robert J. Shaughnessy, Salt Lake City, for defendants.

DURHAM, Justice:

The plaintiff Board of Education of Alpine School District seeks reversal of an Industrial Commission order affirming an administrative law judge's award of workers' compensation benefits to the defendant, Wayne A. Olsen. Olsen was accidentally injured in the shop at Mountain View High School. On appeal, the school district claims Olsen was not employed by it, but rather was a volunteer and as such is not entitled to workers' compensation benefits. We reverse.

The Industrial Commission, in a 2-1 decision, denied plaintiff's motion for review and affirmed the order of the administrative law judge without a majority opinion. The Commission has not submitted a brief on appeal. Therefore, for purposes of appeal, we consider only the findings of fact and conclusions of law of the administrative law judge. It appears that the administrative law judge found that Olsen was a volunteer and held that volunteers are entitled to workers' compensation. However, the judge also found an implied contract of hire between Olsen and the school district and, based on an employer-employee relationship, awarded benefits to Olsen. We will consider both of these theories for recovery in our review.

The facts are not in dispute. Olsen is a 31-year-old carpenter and contractor and operates his own residential construction business. During the school year 1980-1981, he enrolled in a woodshop class at Mountain View High School in order to have use of equipment that he did not own. In the fall of 1981, Olsen asked David Haight, a shop teacher at Mountain View, if he could come in during school hours and use school shop equipment. Haight agreed as long as Olsen did not interfere with student use of the equipment.

Olsen continued to work on his personal projects throughout 1981. Sometime after Christmas, at the suggestion of Haight, Olsen began participating in the Retired Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP), a county-sponsored volunteer program designed to utilize the experience of senior citizens for the benefit of the community. ¹ The program is neither operated nor sponsored by the school district. The school district agrees to have RSVP volunteers offer their time and talents in the school district.

Olsen was interviewed by officials of Mountain View High School before beginning as an RSVP volunteer. Olsen testified that it was clear at the interview that he would be acting as a volunteer in the woodshop classes. He did not have an express written or oral contract of employment with the school or the district. He did not receive any wage or monetary remuneration for his services, nor did he have any expectation of being paid for his assistance in the classroom. He was permitted to continue to use the equipment in the shop for personal projects, which he did, so long as he did not interfere with student use.

RSVP provided Olsen with a lunch ticket, which entitled him to a daily lunch in the school cafeteria. He had no designated hours, did not attend faculty meetings, and was not evaluated as a teacher. In April 1982, he acted as a substitute teacher for one day, for which he was paid one day's wage. Olsen suffered an injury in the shop on May 20, 1982, during the lunch hour while he was working on a personal project. It is for this injury that he seeks workers' compensation benefits.

The issues on appeal are: whether the claimant was a volunteer or an employee for purposes of workers' compensation, and if he was a volunteer, whether volunteers are entitled to workers' compensation benefits. We frame our analysis in terms of the administrative law judge's decision in order to apply the correct standard of review.

The administrative law judge found first that Olsen was a volunteer and held that volunteers are entitled to workers' compensation. The school district does not dispute that Olsen was a volunteer, but rejects the legal conclusion that volunteer workers are entitled to benefits. The administrative law judge took "judicial notice" of the "fact" that the Legislature has provided that volunteer firemen are eligible for workers' compensation, U.C.A., 1953, § 49-6a-31, and that volunteers of the State Department of Natural Resources are considered employees for purposes of workers' compensation benefits. U.C.A., 1953, § 63-34-11 (Supp. 1983). He determined that "these provisions evidence an intent on the part of the Legislature to extend worker's compensation benefits to volunteers who are injured during the course and scope of their voluntary labor."

In reviewing interpretations of general questions of law, such as the one before us, we apply a correction-of-error standard, with no deference to the expertise of the Commission. Utah Department of Administrative Services v. Public Service Commission, Utah, 658 P.2d 601 (1983).

The administrative law judge's interpretation of the implications of statutory provisions relating to volunteer firemen and volunteers for the Department of Natural Resources is patently incorrect. Utah's workers' compensation scheme is a purely statutory creation. This Court cannot expand the statute to subjects not included in its provisions. Bingham City, et al. v. Industrial Commission, 66 Utah 390, 392, 243 P. 113, 113-14 (1926). The law provides for compensation for industrial accidents to be paid to employees, as defined by the Workers' Compensation Act, U.C.A., 1953, § 35-1-45, and it does not include volunteers. U.C.A., 1953, § 35-1-43 (Supp. 1983). Volunteer firemen are specifically made eligible for line-of-duty death and disability benefits under the Utah Firemen's Retirement Act. U.C.A., 1953, § 49-6a-1 to -42, and only...