E.I. Du Pont De Nemours & Co., Inc. v. Redding

• Court: Oklahoma Supreme Court
• Writing for the Court: OSBORN, Justice.
• Citation: E.I. Du Pont De Nemours & Co., Inc. v. Redding, 1944 OK 151, 147 P.2d 166, 194 Okla. 52 (Okla. 1944)
• Decision Date: 28 March 1944
• Docket Number: 31371.
• Parties: E. I. DU PONT DE NEMOURS & CO., Inc., et al. v. REDDING et al.

147 P.2d 166

194 Okla. 52, 1944 OK 151

E. I. DU PONT DE NEMOURS & CO., Inc., et al. v. REDDING et al.

No. 31371.

Supreme Court of Oklahoma

March 28, 1944

Syllabus by the Court.

Under the record herein, where an employee, immediately after having completed his day's work for employer, goes upon a parking lot adjacent to place of employment, controlled and operated by the employer for the mutual benefit of employer and employee, and while proceeding to automobile parked thereon to go home, fell and sustained injury, such accident occurring to the employee arose out of and in the course of employment and falls within the purview of the Workmen's Compensation Act.

Original proceeding by E. I. duPont deNemours & Company, Incorporated employer, and Travelers Insurance Company, insurance carrier to review an award of the State Industrial Commission granting compensation to D. A. Redding, claimant.

Award sustained.

Bridges Parry & Krueger, of Tulsa, for petitioners.

Harry G. Davis and Thomas J. Wiley, both of Muskogee, and Mac Q Williamson, Atty. Gen., for respondents.

OSBORN Justice.

This is an original proceeding brought by E. I. duPont deNemours & Company, Inc., hereinafter referred to as employer, and its insurance carrier, The Travelers Insurance Company, petitioners, to review an award made to respondent, D. A. Redding, hereinafter called claimant.

Claimant filed his first notice, dated the 25th day of July, 1942, with the State Industrial Commission, alleging that he was injured on the 16th day of April, 1942, at 5:44 P. M., by wrenching the joints in both shoulders and left elbow and severely bruising the large muscle in his left arm. Petitioners filed answer denying claimant's allegations, and especially denying the claimant sustained an accidental injury arising out of and in the course of his employment. Upon hearing, on March 11, 1943, the State Industrial Commission made and entered its award in favor of claimant.

The nature of the employment or the cause and extent of the disability are not issues in this proceeding. The sole question presented is whether the accidental injury arose out of and in the course of employment.

The record discloses substantially the following facts: The claimant was employed at the powder plant operated by employer near Choteau, as a carpenter foreman; that on April 16, 1942, he worked at his regular work as a carpenter foreman until 4:30 P. M., at which time he went to a safety meeting, and thereafter he attended a carpenter foremen's meeting; that these meetings were arranged by the management of employer, and it was compulsory for the claimant to attend and he was paid for his time; that the claimant lived in Muskogee, and usually went home on the shuttle train, but on the evenings the meetings were held the train left before the meetings were over, and it was necessary to drive a car, which was parked in a parking lot, maintained by the employer for the benefit of the employees who drove their cars to work and for the general public; that the parking lot is located adjacent to and immediately outside of the fenced-in restricted area where claimant works, near the "clock alley gate"; that the parking lot is operated by and under the direct supervision of the employer in compliance with the terms of an operating contract with the owner, the United States Army; that the car in which claimant had come to work that morning was parked upon said lot under the directions of the guard; that 4 X4 posts about 20 inches high, with a 2X4 running flat on top, designated the parking alleys. After these meetings on the evening of April 16, 1942, the claimant "clocked" his card and was in the act of approaching the car in which he was to ride home, which was parked about 350 feet from the "clock alley gate", when he tripped over the "lane dividers" and fell, receiving the injury complained of.

F. H. McDonald, project manager for employer, made an affidavit, which was offered by the petitioners and it was stipulated that same could be treated as evidence, the material part of which is:

"Affiant says further that immediately outside of the fenced-in restricted area to the north lies a strip of land approximately one-half mile wide and three miles long; that on this strip of land is constructed a four-lane military highway to carry the traffic from U.S. Highway 69 to and from a parking lot situated immediately outside the fenced-in, restricted area at a point near the clock alley gate; that this parking lot, as well as said military highway, is open to the general public and is supervised and its traffic directed by the plant guard employed and under the direct supervision of the E. I. duPont deNemours & Company, in compliance with the terms of the operating contract written with the owner, United States Army."

Based upon these facts the State Industrial Commission entered an order and award for the claimant and the petitioners have commenced this proceeding to review such award.

The employer contends that the facts are not sufficient to show that claimant's injury arose out of and in the course of his employment, because there was no causal connection between claimant's injury and his employment.

The claimant seeks to sustain the award on the theory that the course of employment, within the meaning of the Workmen's Compensation Act, does not begin and end with the actual work which the injured person was employed to do, but covers the period between his entering his employer's...