Mundy v. Department of Health and Human Resources

• Decision Date: 17 January 1992
• Docket Number: No. 91-C-1357,91-C-1357
• Citation: Mundy v. Department of Health and Human Resources, 593 So.2d 346 (La. 1992)
• Parties: Jenera MUNDY v. The DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN RESOURCES, et al.
• Court: Louisiana Supreme Court

Page 346

593 So.2d 346

Jenera MUNDY v.The DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN RESOURCES, et al.

No. 91-C-1357.

Supreme Court of Louisiana.

Jan. 17, 1992.

Rehearing Denied Feb. 20, 1992.

Julian R. Murray, Murray, Braden, Gonzalez & Richardson, New Orleans, for plaintiff.

Philip H. Kennedy, New Orleans, for respondents.

LEMMON, Justice.

Plaintiff filed this tort action against her employer to recover damages for injuries sustained when she was stabbed by an unknown assailant in an elevator at Charity Hospital in New Orleans en route to report for the evening shift at her work station on the eleventh floor.The issue is whether La.Rev.Stat. 23:1032 restricts plaintiff to worker's compensation benefits as her exclusive remedy against her employer.We hold that under an analysis of the "course of employment" and "arising out of employment" requirements of the Worker's Compensation Act, in light of the facts of this case, the employer failed to carry its burden of proving its entitlement to tort immunity.

Plaintiff had been employed by the Department of Health and Human Resources as a licensed practical nurse for eleven years.At the time of the incident she was working the evening shift in the dialysis department located on the eleventh floor of Charity Hospital.Evening shift employees in that department were expected to report to work at 11:15 p.m. and were considered to be late at 11:20 p.m., although the afternoon shift did not end until 11:30 p.m.

On November 13, 1986, plaintiff arrived at the hospital at approximately 11:17 p.m. and proceeded to the east elevators.She noticed that the two guards usually stationed at those elevators were not present at the time.After plaintiff entered the elevator on her way to work on the eleventh floor, a man jumped into the elevator as the doors closed and pressed the second floor button.When the elevator stopped at the second floor, the man began to leave the elevator, but turned suddenly and attacked plaintiff with a knife.Plaintiff pressed the emergency button on the elevator panel, hoping that the alarm would scare off the assailant or attract assistance.However, the button was not in working order, and the alarm did not sound.The assailant stabbed plaintiff repeatedly while standing in the elevator door before losing his balance and falling backward, allowing the doors to close.Plaintiff then sought assistance on an upper floor.

Plaintiff filed this tort action against her employer based on the employer's negligence in failing to provide adequate security in the hospital and to maintain procedures for the safety of patients, visitors and employees.The trial court rendered judgment in favor of plaintiff in the amount of $125,000, subject to a credit of $6,338.61 for compensation benefits paid by the employer.The judge, accepting plaintiff's testimony completely, found that plaintiff"had not come under the control or supervision of Charity Hospital at the time when the incident occurred."He accordingly ruled that plaintiff was not in the course of her employment at the time of the incident and therefore was not restricted to compensation as her exclusive remedy.The judge further found that plaintiff's employer was negligent in the maintenance and operation of the hospital premises.

The court of appeal reversed.580 So.2d 493.Reasoning that the beneficial purpose of the compensation remedy requires a claimant to be brought under worker's compensation in any manner reasonably possible, the court concluded that plaintiff was injured during the course of her employment because both elements of time and place were present.¹The court further reasoned that plaintiff's injury arose out of her employment because the necessities of her employer's business required her to be at the place of the incident at the time it occurred.

This court then granted plaintiff's application for certiorari.586 So.2d 519.

The employer is responsible for compensation benefits to an employee who is injured by an accident which occurs in the course of the employment and arises out of the employment.La.Rev.Stat. 23:1031.Compensation benefits are the employee's exclusive remedy against his employer for such an injury.La.Rev.Stat. 23:1032.When the employer seeks to avail itself of tort immunity under Section 1032, the employer has the burden of proving entitlement to immunity.

An accident occurs in the course of employment when the employee sustains an injury while actively engaged in the performance of his duties during working hours, either on the employer's premises or at other places where employment activities take the employee.Kern v. Southport Mill, 174 La. 432, 141 So. 19(1932);W. Malone & H. Johnson, 13 Louisiana Civil Law Treatise--Worker's CompensationSec. 161 (2d ed. 1980).While coverage has been extended in some cases to include accidents during times for rest or lunch periods or before and after work on the employer's premises, or to include accidents at places where employment duties are performed off the employer's premises, the principal criteria for determining course of employment are time, place and employment activity.

The determination of whether an accident arises out of employment focuses on the character or source of the risk which gives rise to the injury and on the relationship of the risk to the nature of the employment.An accident arises out of employment if the risk from which the injury resulted was greater for the employee than for a person not engaged in the employment.Myers v. Louisiana Railway and Navigation Co., 140 La. 937, 74 So. 256(1917).Moreover, an accident has also been held to arise out of employment if the conditions or obligations of the employment caused the employee in the course of employment to be at the place of the accident at the time the accident occurred, Kern v. Southport Mill, 174 La. 432, 141 So. 19(1932).Thus, when the employee is squarely within the course of his employment, virtually any risk (whether an increased risk or not) has been considered as arising out of employment.W. Malone & H. Johnson, supra at Sec. 193.

The principal objective of the "arising out of employment" requirement is to separate accidents attributable to employment risks, which form the basis of the employer's obligation under the compensation system, from accidents attributable to personal risks, for which the employer should normally not be responsible.1 A. Larson, Workmen's CompensationSec. 7.00(1990).The risks which have caused the greatest difficulty are those...