Brockway v. Easter, 1312-94-1

• Decision Date: 25 April 1995
• Docket Number: No. 1312-94-1,1312-94-1
• Parties: Owens BROCKWAY and National Union Fire Insurance Company of Pittsburgh v. Joel E. EASTER, Jr. Record
• Court: Virginia Court of Appeals

Page 159

456 S.E.2d 159

20 Va.App. 268

Owens BROCKWAY and National Union Fire Insurance Company of Pittsburgh v. Joel E. EASTER, Jr.

Record No. 1312-94-1.

Court of Appeals of Virginia Norfolk.

April 25, 1995.

Ralph L. Whitt, Jr., Richmond (Jennifer G. Marwitz, Sands, Anderson, Marks & Miller, on briefs), for appellants.

Robert J. Macbeth, Jr., Norfolk (Rutter & Montagna, on brief), for appellee.

Present: BAKER and BENTON, JJ., and HODGES, Senior Judge.

BAKER, Judge.

Owens Brockway and National Union Fire Insurance Company of Pittsburgh (jointly referred to herein as employer) appeal from a decision of the Workers' Compensation Commission (commission) that awarded benefits to Joel E. Easter, Jr. (claimant) for an on-the-job injury sustained in the course of his employment with employer.

Employer contends that claimant is not entitled to an award and alleges that, in violation of Code § 65.2-306 and an established rule of employer, ¹ claimant's injury was due solely to his willful misconduct. In relevant part, Code § 65.2-306 provides:

§ 65.2-306. When compensation not allowed for injury or death; burden of proof.--A. No compensation shall be awarded to the employee or his dependents for an injury or death caused by:

1. The employee's willful misconduct or intentional self-inflicted injury;

* * * * * *

5. The employee's willful breach of any reasonable rule or regulation adopted by the employer and brought, prior to the accident, to the knowledge of the employee;

* * * * * * B. The person or entity asserting any of the defenses in this section shall have the burden of proof with respect thereto.

As specified in Code § 65.2-306(B), employer had the burden to prove that claimant's conduct, which caused his injury, was in "willful" disregard of a reasonable rule established by employer of which claimant was knowledgeable.

"Wilful" ... imports something more than a mere exercise of the will in doing the act. It imports a wrongful intention. An intention to do an act that he knows, or ought to know, is wrongful, or forbidden by law. It involves the idea of premeditation and determination to do the act, though known to be forbidden. There cannot, however, be a wilful failure to perform an unknown duty.

* * * * * *

[The language used in this section covers something more than] negligence, however gross.

King v. Empire Collieries Co., 148 Va. 585, 590-91, 139 S.E. 478, 479 (1927). To prevail on the defense of a willful violation of a safety rule, employer must prove that: (1) the safety rule was reasonable; (2) the rule was known to the employee; (3) the rule was promulgated for the benefit of the employee; and (4) the employee intentionally undertook the forbidden act. Spruill v. C.W. Wright Construction Co., 8 Va.App. 330, 334, 381 S.E.2d 359, 360-61 (1989). If the employer carries its burden to show that the employee knew of the rule and intentionally violated it, the employee has willfully failed to obey the rule. See Riverside & Dan River Cotton Mills, Inc. v. Thaxton, 161 Va. 863, 172 S.E. 261 (1934).

Whether the rule is reasonable and applies to the situation from which the injury results, and whether the claimant knowingly violated it, is a mixed question of law and fact to be decided by the commission and reviewable by this Court. But the questions of whether an employee is guilty of willful misconduct and whether such misconduct is a proximate cause of the employee's accident are issues of fact. Mills v. Virginia Elec. & Power Co., 197 Va. 547, 551, 90 S.E.2d 124, 127 (1955). Upon review of the record, the commission found "that the employer's rule did not prohibit the activity which led to the claimant's injury."

Having prevailed below, claimant is entitled to have the facts viewed most favorable to his claim. States Roofing Corp. v. Bush Constr. Corp., 15 Va.App. 613, 616, 426 S.E.2d 124, 126 (1993). The record supports the commission's finding of the following facts: Claimant was a thirty-eight-year-old journeyman maintenance man at the time of his injury. He commenced work for employer on August 3, 1987. On February 16, 1993, claimant was instructed by his supervisor, Kevin Lievre (Lievre), to attend to a conveyor belt that was slipping on its pulley.

Two conveyor belts were involved in this injury, one that ran slightly above the other. Both belts are approximately one hundred and fifty feet long. The upper belt is the batch conveyor that moves raw materials. Slightly below it is the clean-out belt that catches material that falls from the batch conveyor. The belts are exposed to the elements. At the time of the accident, the clean-out belt had begun to slip on its pulley and ceased operating. When this happens, the procedure is to clean away any debris that may be interfering with the operation of the belt and to apply a material known as "non-stick" to the pulley or belt. This usually increases the friction and causes the pulley to engage the belt.

Both belts operate from a power source that is controlled from the furnace control room. However, the power source itself is apparently located at the opposite end of the belt where claimant was injured. Devices are also present that enable maintenance personnel to disconnect or "lockout" the power. Maintenance men also carry a two-way radio that enables them to stay in contact with the personnel in the control room. On the day of the accident, however, one radio was not operating, and claimant did not have the advantage of communicating with another maintenance man.

Upon Lievre's instruction, claimant went to the far end of the clean-out belt to attempt to find the trouble. The power source was not "locked out"...