Shelby Mut. Ins. Co. v. Cates

• Decision Date: 31 October 1969
• Citation: 446 S.W.2d 682,1 Pack 442,223 Tenn. 442
• Parties: , 223 Tenn. 442 The SHELBY MUTUAL INSURANCE CO. v. Alta Jean CATES (Wall).
• Court: Tennessee Supreme Court

Page 682

446 S.W.2d 682

1 Pack 442, 223 Tenn. 442

The SHELBY MUTUAL INSURANCE CO. v.Alta Jean CATES (Wall).

Supreme Court of Tennessee.

Oct. 31, 1969.

J. H. Hodges, Knoxville, for plaintiff in error.

D. H. Rosier, Jr., Maryville, for defendant in error.

OPINION

McCANLESS, Justice.

The petitioner, Mrs. Alta Jean Wall, seeks a recovery under the Workmen's Compensation Act for injuries she sustained while employed by John B. Sparks, operator of the Dwarf Drive In Restaurant in Maryville.The employer's insurer has appealed from a judgment in the petitioner's favor, insisting that the injuries that the petitioner sustained did not arise from and grow out of her employment within the meaning of the Act.

Mrs. Wall drove her automobile to and from her work at the restaurant, though her employer did not require her to do so, and she used it only for her own convenience; she parked the car on the premises with her employer's permission; this, too, being for her convenience and not for that of her employer.

The petitioner had asked for and had been granted permission to leave the restaurant to go somewhere to get a dress that she wanted to wear that night.This was a personal mission, unrelated to her employment.As she left the restaurant building and had gone a short distance toward her automobile, she was struck by another car and suffered the injuries for which she seeks compensation.

The Circuit Court and the petitioner have relied on the opinion of this Court in Moore v. Cincinnati, N.O. & T.P.R. Co., 148 Tenn. 561, 256 S.W. 876(1923).That case, however, must be distinguished from this one in that the route the deceased employee, Moore, took when he met with his fatal accident was much shorter and easier of use than another available route, and the employer had made no...