Construction Management and Design, Inc. v. Vanderweele
| Decision Date | 23 January 1996 |
| Docket Number | No. 93A02-9506-EX-367,93A02-9506-EX-367 |
| Citation | 660 N.E.2d 1046 |
| Parties | CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT AND DESIGN, INC., Appellant-Defendant, v. Lynn VANDERWEELE, Appellee-Plaintiff. |
| Court | Indiana Appellate Court |
Robert D. Woods, Edward N. Kalamaros & Associates, Professional Corp., South Bend, for appellant.
Joseph V. Simeri, Butler and Simeri, P.C., South Bend, for appellee.
Construction Management and Design, Inc. (the Company) appeals an award of worker's compensation benefits to Lynn VanDerWeele from an injury he sustained while he was employed by the Company. The Company presents the following restated issue for review:
Did the Worker's Compensation Board err in affirming a hearing judge's decision that VanDerWeele's injury arose out of and in the course of his employment, thus making him eligible to receive worker's compensation benefits?
We reverse.
The facts are undisputed. VanDerWeele was working as part of the Company's four-man trimming crew at a house under construction in Plymouth, Indiana. The crew had been sent to the house with instructions from Ken Robinson, a supervisor at the Company's main office. Except for periodic visits from a supervisor, the four members of the crew were left to work independently and none of the four was in charge of the crew. In addition to lunch, the Company permitted the crew to take two ten-minute breaks per day, one in the morning and another in the afternoon. The crew members' activities during breaks were not restricted, so long as they did not exceed the ten-minute limit.
On February 15, 1994, the crew members were working in the house when they heard tires spinning outside. The men exited the house and observed that a van driven by a woman had slid off of the driveway of the house adjacent to the one in which they were working. The crew members decided to assist the woman. While VanDerWeele was walking on the adjacent driveway, he slipped and hit his head, suffering an injury.
The Company denied VanDerWeele's request for worker's compensation benefits on grounds that the injury was not work-related. VanDerWeele filed an Application for Adjustment of Claim for Compensation with the Worker's Compensation Board of Indiana (the Board) and on December 2, 1994, a hearing was held before a hearing judge. The hearing judge concluded:
"although the case can be decided either for or against the plaintiff herein [VanDerWeele], the undersigned does conclude that plaintiff did suffer an accidental injury arising out of and in the course of his employment but encourages the parties to consider a settlement of this case without further proceedings." Record at 12.
The Company filed an application for review by the full Board, which ruled that the application for review would be held in abeyance pending resolution of all relevant issues and the case was remanded for further proceedings. The parties thereafter filed a Joint Stipulation of Facts and VanDerWeele filed an Application for Additional Attorney Fees. On May 23, 1995, a hearing was conducted before the Board. On June 8, 1995, the Board adopted the hearing judge's decision awarding benefits to VanDerWeele. The Company appeals the Board's decision.
The Indiana Worker's Compensation Act provides compensation for employees who suffer injuries which arise out of and in the course of their employment. The question of whether an injury arises out of and in the course of employment is fact sensitive and depends upon the facts and circumstances of each case. Burke v. Wilfong (1994), Ind.App., 638 N.E.2d 865. When, as here, the facts pertinent to the question of liability are not in dispute, the question becomes one of law for the courts to decide. Lowell Health Care Center v. Jordan (1994), Ind.App., 641 N.E.2d 675, trans. denied; Burke, supra. In order to be eligible for compensation under the Worker's Compensation Act (the Act), a person must prove both that the injury occurred "in the course of employment" and that the injury "arose out of the employment."
We consider first whether VanDerWeele's injury occurred in the course of his employment.
Burke, supra, at 868 (quoting Wayne Adams Buick, Inc. v. Ference (1981), Ind.App., 421 N.E.2d 733, 735).
The accident occurred on property adjacent to the site at which VanDerWeele was working. VanDerWeele contends that an accident which occurs while the employee is leaving the employer's premises is an employment-related risk and thus is compensable under the Act, citing Thiellen v. Graves (1988), Ind.App., 530 N.E.2d 765. There is a significant difference, however, between the facts in Thiellen and those of the instant case. In Thiellen, the employee was injured when the motorcycle on which he was riding collided with a truck. While VanDerWeele is correct in asserting that the collision occurred while the employee was leaving work, he fails to state that the collision nevertheless occurred on the employer's premises. This was specifically noted by the Thiellen court, indicating that the court found it significant:
"The period of employment encompasses a reasonable time before and after the employer engages in work; an employer parking lot is the employer's premises, and thus a reasonable place for an employee; and going to and leaving the work place while still on the employer's premises." Id. at 767 (emphasis supplied).
Applying the relevant criteria to the facts of that case, the court concluded that the employee was injured in the course of his employment, stating, "Thiellen had clocked out for his evening one-half hour lunch break immediately before the collision occurred on his employer's premises...." Id. (emphasis supplied).
The question of geographical boundaries as they relate to the imposition of liability upon an employer for an employee's injuries under the Act has previously been addressed. This court has stated:
"There must be a line beyond which the liability of the employer cannot continue. Where that line is to be drawn is usually a question of fact. This is so even where the facts are stipulated.
The line of liability upon an employer for workers who have no duties to perform for their employer outside of the job site has been drawn at the employer's premises. The situation is otherwise where the employee has duties to perform away from the job site. This rule provides a definite standard by which liability can be determined." Markley v. Richmond Glove Corp. (1959), 129 Ind.App. 325, 156 N.E.2d 407, 413.
The Markley court noted that the only exception to the non-imposition of liability for injuries occurring off-premises is where the duties of the employment require the employee to perform work away from the employer's premises. This exception has been narrowly expanded to include off-premises acts of a personal nature which are incidental to the employment, and has been explained as follows:
Prater v. Indiana Briquetting Corp. (1969), 253 Ind. 83, 251 N.E.2d 810, 812-13 (emphasis in original) ).
In Prater, the court held that the exception included injuries occurring while returning from an off-premises store where the...
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