Danielsen v. Security Van Lines, Inc.
| Decision Date | 16 December 1963 |
| Docket Number | No. 46700,46700 |
| Parties | Victor C. DANIELSEN v. SECURITY VAN LINES, INC., and Fidelity and Casualty Co. of New York. |
| Court | Louisiana Supreme Court |
Steven R. Plotkin, New Orleans, for applicant.
W. K. Christovich, Christovich & Kearney, New Orleans, for appellees and respondents.
The plaintiff, Victor C. Danielsen, sued his employer, Security Van Lines, Inc., and its insurer for workmen's compensation. The defendants resisted the demand on the ground that the accident did not arise out of and in the course of plaintiff's employment. The district court denied recovery. The Court of Appeal affirmed. 1 We granted a writ of certiorari, 244 La. 223, 151 So.2d 693, to review the judgment of the Court of Appeal.
The facts, as found by the Court of Appeal, are substantially these: The plaintiff, Danielsen, was employed by Security Van Lines, Inc., as a salesman-estimator on a commission basis. His duties required him to go to the premises of prospective customers and prepare estimates of the charges for moving or storing household effects. In addition, he solicited business for his employer. He had no fixed working hours and arranged his own work schedule. He worked each week day, including a half-day on Saturday, at hours convenient to him and the customers. He made some calls on prospective customers during the evening. He likewise received some telephone calls from or through Security at his home after 5:00 o'clock p.m. However, he was not required to service these calls during the evening, unless he chose to do so. Danielsen performed some 'paper work' at home, particularly at the end of the month in connection with his expense account. He also usually reviewed the calls he was to make before leaving his home each day so as to arrange them in proper order.
Security furnished Danielsen an automobile for use in connection with his work. It also paid the automobile expenses, including the gas, oil, and insurance. The automobile was kept in a garage one-half block from plaintiff's residence, the rent of which was paid by Security.
Danielsen lived in an apartment on the second floor of a two-story triplex. In order for him to leave the apartment, it was necessary that he pass through his kitchen, descend a flight of steps, open an outer door, and descend two additional steps to ground level.
On the day preceding the accident which forms the basis of this suit, the plaintiff picked up several memoranda at Security's main office, which listed estimates for the following day, Saturday. During the evening, he worked on his expense account, for it was the end of the month. He also checked the memoranda to determine his route.
On Saturday morning, he rechecked his route, placed the memoranda in his pocket, and descended the flight of steps leading from his apartment. He carried a small sheaf of rate schedules. He also carried a bag of garbage, which he intended to place in a garbage can on his way to the garage. He fell from one of the two outer steps and sustained a broken hip, which he alleges has produced permanent and total disability.
Based upon these facts, the plaintiff contends that the accident arose out of and in the course of his employment within the intendment of the Louisiana Workmen's Compensation Act. Hence, he asserts, workmen's compensation is payable to him for permanent total disability.
The defendants assert that the accident did not arise out of or in the course of the employment. Hence, they urge that the injury is not compensable under the Louisiana Workmen's Compensation Act.
The primary issue presented here is whether the accident occurred in the course of plaintiff's employment.
LSA-R.S. 23:1031, the pertinent section of the Louisiana Workmen's Compensation Act, provides:
'If an employee not otherwise eliminated from the benefits of this Chapter, receives personal injury by accident arising out of and in the course of his employment, his employer shall pay compensation in the amounts, on the conditions, and to the person or persons hereinafter designated.'
Coverage is provided under the Louisiana Workmen's Compensation Act only if the accident occurred in the course of the employment. By course of employment is meant the time and space boundaries of the employment. 2
When the employment begins or ends cannot be determined by reference to an exact formula. Each case must be...
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McCoy v. Kroger Co.
...workmen of the economic burden of work-connected injuries by diffusing the costs in channels of commerce. Danielsen v. Security Van Lines, Inc., 245 La. 450, 158 So.2d 609 (1963); Geist v. Martin, Decker Corp., 313 So.2d 1 (La.App. 1st Cir.1975). Louisiana is among the many jurisdictions th......
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