Peoples v. Emory University
| Decision Date | 06 November 1992 |
| Docket Number | No. A92A1593,A92A1593 |
| Citation | 424 S.E.2d 874,206 Ga.App. 213 |
| Parties | , 80 Ed. Law Rep. 330 PEOPLES v. EMORY UNIVERSITY. |
| Court | Georgia Court of Appeals |
Gary M. Kazin, Decatur, for appellant.
Robert J. Routman, Atlanta, for appellee.
Darrell A. Peoples, the claimant in this workers' compensation case, was employed as a janitor at Emory Law School. One Sunday morning he traveled to work on his bicycle and after he passed the law school building on the way to another building, where he was to sign in and obtain keys to the law school building, he was distracted and permitted a bag to become caught in the spokes of his bicycle wheel. Claimant was injured in the crash that followed. The crash site was a street owned by Emory University and patrolled by Emory University police, albeit the street was usually open to travel by the public.
Employer Emory University denied workers' compensation coverage contending that the injury did not arise out of and in the course of claimant's employment. The administrative law judge awarded benefits but this decision was overturned by a majority of the full board which denied claimant's claim for benefits. After the board's award was affirmed by operation of law, claimant made application to this court for discretionary appeal and obtained permission to file this appeal. Held:
The administrative law judge's award was predicated on the ingress and egress rule, that is, that the period of employment generally includes a reasonable time for ingress to and egress from the place of work, while on the employer's premises. Tate v. Bruno's/Food Max, 200 Ga.App. 395, 396(1), 408 S.E.2d 456; Crawford v. Meyer, 195 Ga.App. 867, 395 S.E.2d 327; Labelle v. Lister, 192 Ga.App. 464, 465(1), 385 S.E.2d 118; Southern Bell Tel., etc., Co. v. Conyers Toyota, 190 Ga.App. 792(1), 793, 380 S.E.2d 296; West Point Pepperell v. McEntire, 150 Ga.App. 728, 729(1), 258 S.E.2d 530; Depart. of Human Resources v. Jankowski, 147 Ga.App. 441, 442(2), 249 S.E.2d 124.
The board concluded that the injury cannot be said to have arisen out of and in the course of employment because it did not occur within the period of work or in a place where claimant may reasonably have been during the performance of his work. This holding cannot be reconciled with the above cases and must be viewed as erroneous. A compensable injury may occur outside the period of work and in a place the employee will never be during the performance of his work. Accord Maxwell v. Hosp. Auth. of Dade, Walker & Catoosa Counties, 202 Ga.App. 92, 413 S.E.2d 205.
For purposes of the ingress and egress rule, an employer's premises is real property owned, maintained, or controlled by the employer. Accord Tate v. Bruno's/Food Max, 200 Ga.App. 395, 396(1), 397, 408 S.E.2d 456, supra. For this reason the employer's reliance on Corbin v. Liberty Mut. Ins. Co., 117 Ga.App. 823, 162 S.E.2d 226, is misplaced. In Corbin an employee of a contractor involved in certain construction for the City of Gainesville was injured on a city owned road which provided the only access between the construction site and the main highway, yet there is no suggestion in that decision that the contractor employer owned, maintained or controlled the city owned access road. Therefore, this court was correct in holding that the employee had been injured after leaving the "premises" where work was being done and in affirming the denial of compensation.
It is fundamental that an injury compensable under our workers' compensation law is one that arises out of and in the course of employment. OCGA § 34-9-1(4). The ingress and egress rule is merely an application of this principle. See West Point Pepperell v. McEntire, 150 Ga.App. 728, 729(1), 258 S.E.2d 530, supra, and DeHowitt v. Hartford Fire Ins. Co., 99 Ga.App. 147(5), 108 S.E.2d 280. The ingress and egress rule is " ...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Frett v. State Farm Emp. Workers' Comp.
...to enter and leave her place of employment before she is deemed to be acting solely of her own choosing. Peoples v. Emory University , 206 Ga. App. 213, 214, 424 S.E.2d 874 (1992) ; United States Cas. Co. v. Russell , 98 Ga. App. 181, 105 S.E.2d 378 (1958) (employee is entitled to reasonabl......
-
Bonner-Hill v. Southland Waste Sys. of Ga., Inc.
...to her vehicle was compensable).12 (Punctuation omitted.) Hill, 268 Ga.App. at 147, 601 S.E.2d 472. See also Peoples v. Emory University, 206 Ga.App. 213, 214, 424 S.E.2d 874 (1992).13 See, e.g., Hill, 268 Ga.App. at 147, 601 S.E.2d 472; Collie Concessions v. Bruce, 272 Ga.App. 578, 612 S.E......
-
Smith v. Camarena
...includes a reasonable time for ingress to and egress from the place of work, while on the employer’s premises." Peoples v. Emory Univ. , 206 Ga. App. 213, 424 S.E.2d 874 (1992). For purposes of this rule, the employer’s premises means "real property owned, maintained, or controlled by the e......
-
Collie Concessions, Inc. v. Bruce
...(Citation and punctuation omitted.) Travelers Ins. Co. v. Southern Elec., 209 Ga.App. 718, 719(1), 434 S.E.2d 507 (1993). 26. 206 Ga.App. 213, 424 S.E.2d 874 (1992). 27. Id. at 214, 424 S.E.2d 874. 28. Id. 29. 99 Ga.App. 147, 108 S.E.2d 280 (1959). 30. Id. at 148(7), 108 S.E.2d 280. 31. Sup......
-
Workers' Compensation - H. Michael Bagley, Daniel C. Kniffen, and John G. Blackmon, Jr.
...Dep't, 160 Ga. App. 559, 287 S.E.2d 586 (1981). 145. 207 Ga. App. 644, 434 S.E.2d 87 (1993). 146. See generally Peoples v. Emory Univ., 206 Ga. App. 213, 424 S.E.2d 874 (1992); Tate v. Bruno's, Inc., 200 Ga. App. 395, 408 S.E.2d 456 (1991). 147. 209 Ga. App. at 644, 434 S.E.2d at 87. 148. I......
-
Local Government Law - R. Perry Sentell, Jr.
...and egress from the place of work, while on the employer's premises.'" Id. at 444-45, 559 S.E.2d at 75 (quoting Peoples v. Emory Univ., 206 Ga. App. 213, 213, 424 S.E.2d 874, 875 (1992)). 18. "Here, it is undisputed that the drive on which the collision occurred was owned by the City . . . ......
-
Workers' Compensation - H. Michael Bagley, Daniel C. Kniffen, Katherine D. Dixon, and Marion H. Martin
...559 S.E.2d 73, 75 (2002). 12. Id. at 443-44, 559 S.E.2d at 74-75. 13. Id. at 445, 559 S.E.2d at 75 (citing Peoples v. Emory Univ., 206 Ga. App. 213, 424 S.E.2d 874 (1992)). 14. Id. (quoting Peoples, 206 Ga. App. at 214, 424 S.E.2d at 876); See also Rockwell v. Lockheed Martin Corp., 248 Ga.......
-
Workers' Compensation
...S.E.2d at 714.25. Id. at 799, 835 S.E.2d at 714-15 (citations omitted).26. Id. at 799, 835 S.E.2d at 715 (citing Peoples v. Emory Univ., 206 Ga. App. 213, 424 S.E.2d 874 (1992)).27. Smith, 352 Ga. App. 799, 835 S.E.2d at 715. (citing Tate v. Bruno's, Inc./Food Max, 200 Ga. App. 395, 408 S.E......