Shelest v. Wyoming Workers' Safety

• Decision Date: 11 January 2010
• Docket Number: No. S-09-0026.,S-09-0026.
• Citation: 2010 WY 3,222 P.3d 167
• Parties: Richard J. SHELEST, Appellant (Petitioner), v. STATE of Wyoming, ex rel., WYOMING WORKERS' SAFETY AND COMPENSATION DIVISION, Appellee (Respondent).
• Court: Wyoming Supreme Court

222 P.3d 167

2010 WY 3

Richard J. SHELEST, Appellant (Petitioner), v. STATE of Wyoming, ex rel., WYOMING WORKERS' SAFETY AND COMPENSATION DIVISION, Appellee (Respondent).

No. S-09-0026.

Supreme Court of Wyoming.

January 11, 2010.

Representing Appellant: Donna D. Domonkos, Cheyenne, Wyoming.

Representing Appellee: Bruce A. Salzburg, Attorney General; John William Renneisen, Deputy Attorney General; James Michael Causey, Assistant Attorney General.

Before VOIGT, C.J., and GOLDEN, HILL, KITE, and BURKE, JJ.

BURKE, Justice.

[¶ 1] Richard J. Shelest was injured in a motorcycle accident. At the time, he was an employee of the Wyoming Department of Transportation, and he filed a claim for worker's compensation benefits. The claim was denied by the Wyoming Workers' Safety and Compensation Division on the basis that Mr. Shelest was not acting within the scope of his employment when he was injured. Mr. Shelest objected, and the matter was referred to the Office of Administrative Hearings, which upheld the Division's determination. Mr. Shelest appealed to the district court, which affirmed the decision. Mr. Shelest now brings his appeal before this Court. We affirm.

ISSUES

[¶ 2] Mr. Shelest states his two issues this way:

1. Whether the Office of Administrative Hearing's decision denying benefits was supported by substantial evidence.

2. Whether the Office of Administrative Hearing's decision denying benefits was arbitrary and capricious or otherwise not in accordance with law.

FACTS

[¶ 3] Mr. Shelest was employed by the Department of Transportation in Evanston, Wyoming. On June 20, 2006, his employer required him to attend a training program in Rock Springs. He went with his supervisor and a co-worker, and because it was a nice day, all three decided to ride their motorcycles. They left Evanston at about 7:00 a.m., Mr. Shelest's normal starting time, and the three travelled to Rock Springs on Interstate Highway 80, a distance of approximately 100 miles.

[¶ 4] The training finished around noon. Over lunch, the three discussed taking an alternate route home, one they thought would be more scenic and pleasant. The alternate route they discussed followed Interstate Highway 80 from Rock Springs to Green River, then took Wyoming State Highway 530 to the south and southwest, crossed into Utah on Utah State Highway 43, turned back to the west and northwest into Wyoming on Wyoming State Highway 414, and rejoined Interstate Highway 80 near Mountain View, Wyoming. The alternate route was approximately 150 miles, and took about an hour longer than the direct route. Although the three talked about the alternate route, they did not reach any decision about which route to take.

[¶ 5] The three left for Evanston and approached Green River on Interstate Highway 80. The supervisor was in the lead, the co-worker second, and Mr. Shelest in the rear. The supervisor took the exit for the alternate route, and the co-worker and Mr. Shelest followed. While in Utah, Mr. Shelest lost control of his motorcycle and wrecked. He suffered broken bones and other injuries.

[¶ 6] Mr. Shelest applied for worker's compensation benefits for his injuries. The Division denied the claim on the basis that Mr. Shelest's injuries did not occur while he was acting within the course of his employment. More specifically, it determined that when Mr. Shelest "chose to travel an alternate route into the state of Utah rather than travel directly back to Evanston, [he] stepped out of the course of [his] employment." Mr. Shelest's objection to this determination was the subject of a contested case hearing before the Office of Administrative Hearings. The hearing examiner upheld the Division's determination that Mr. Shelest was not entitled to worker's compensation benefits because he was acting outside the scope of his employment when the accident occurred. Mr. Shelest appealed that decision, first to the district court, and now to this Court.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

[¶ 7] "When we consider an appeal from a district court's review of an administrative agency's decision, we give no special deference to the district court's decision." Dale v. S & S Builders, LLC, 2008 WY 84, ¶ 8, 188 P.3d 554, 557 (Wyo.2008). We review the case as though it had come directly from the administrative agency. Id. We review an administrative agency's decision pursuant to the Wyoming Administrative Procedure Act, which provides in pertinent part that the reviewing court shall:

(ii) Hold unlawful and set aside agency action, findings and conclusions found to be:

(A) Arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion or otherwise not in accordance with law;

(B) Contrary to constitutional right, power, privilege or immunity;

(C) In excess of statutory jurisdiction, authority or limitations or lacking statutory right;

(D) Without observance of procedure required by law; or

(E) Unsupported by substantial evidence in a case reviewed on the record of an agency hearing provided by statute.

Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 16-3-114(c)(ii) (LexisNexis 2009). We affirm an agency's findings of fact if they are supported by substantial evidence. Dale, ¶ 22, 188 P.3d at 561. "Substantial evidence is relevant evidence which a reasonable mind might accept in support of the agency's conclusions." Id., ¶ 11, 188 P.3d at 558, quoting Newman v. State ex rel. Wyo. Workers' Safety & Comp. Div., 2002 WY 91, ¶ 12, 49 P.3d 163, 168 (Wyo.2002), quoting State ex rel. Wyo. Workers' Safety and Comp. Div. v. Jensen, 2001 WY 51, ¶ 10, 24 P.3d 1133, 1136 (Wyo.2001). We review an agency's conclusions of law de novo. Dale, ¶ 26, 188 P.3d at 561. We employ the arbitrary and capricious standard as a "safety net" against agency action that is contrary to law but not readily correctible under the other applicable standards of review. See id., ¶¶ 23-24, 188 P.3d at 561.

DISCUSSION

[¶ 8] The Wyoming Workers' Compensation Act provides compensation and benefits for work-related injuries, as defined in Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 27-14-102(a)(xi):

"Injury" means any harmful change in the human organism other than normal aging and includes damage to or loss of any artificial replacement and death, arising out of and in the course of employment while at work in or about the premises occupied, used or controlled by the employer and incurred while at work in places where the employer's business requires an employee's presence and which subjects the employee to extrahazardous duties incident to the business.

(Emphasis added.) Interpreting this statute, particularly the emphasized language, we have explained that there must be "a causal nexus between the injury and some condition, activity, environment or requirement of the employment." Quinn v. Securitas Sec. Servs., 2007 WY 91, ¶ 11, 158 P.3d 711, 714 (Wyo.2007); In re Willey, 571 P.2d 248, 250 (Wyo.1977).

[¶ 9] Consistent with the requirement that the injury must arise out of and in the course of employment, the statutes further provide that the term "injury" does not include "[a]ny injury sustained during travel to or from employment unless the employee is reimbursed for travel expenses or is transported by a vehicle of the employer." Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 27-14-102(a)(xi)(D). Under this statutory provision, an injury sustained by an employee while commuting to or from work is generally not compensable. Willey, 571 P.2d at 250. An injury sustained by an employee during a trip taken as part of his work, and for which he is reimbursed or eligible for reimbursement, is generally compensable. See Lloyd v. State ex rel. Wyo. Workers' Safety and Comp. Div., 2004 WY 85, ¶¶ 18, 22, 93 P.3d 1001, 1005-06 (Wyo. 2004).

[¶ 10] When an employee is on a work-related trip for which he is reimbursed, but takes a side trip for personal reasons, he is no longer acting within the scope of his employment. See Boode v. Allied Mutual Ins. Co., 458 P.2d 653, 657 (Wyo.1969). Accordingly, when an employee is on a business trip, but sustains an injury during a personal side trip or deviation, he is not entitled to worker's compensation benefits. See Wyoming State Treasurer ex rel. Workmen's Comp. Dep't v. Boston, 445 P.2d 548, 549-50 (Wyo.1968). As explained by an often-quoted authority on worker's compensation, "An identifiable deviation from a business trip for personal reasons takes the employee out of the course of employment until the employee returns to the route of the business trip, unless the deviation is so small as to be disregarded as insubstantial." 1 Arthur Larson & Lex K. Larson, Larson's Workers' Compensation Law § 17, at 17-1 (2009).

[¶ 11] In the case before us now, the Office of Administrative Hearings found that Mr. Shelest's injuries were not compensable because they occurred while he was on "a side trip that was an abandonment of the employer's business and a substantial deviation from the work." "Whether an employee's injury occurred in the course of her employment is a question of fact." Goddard v. Colonel Bozeman's Restaurant, 914 P.2d 1233, 1236 (Wyo.1996); Hepp v. State ex rel. Wyoming Workers' Compensation Div., 881 P.2d 1076, 1077 (Wyo.1994). Applying the pertinent standard of review, we will uphold the hearing examiner's findings of fact if the record contains substantial evidence to support the findings.

[¶ 12] The record in Mr. Shelest's case contains substantial evidence to support the hearing examiner's findings. The alternate route was approximately fifty miles longer than the direct route, and took about an hour longer to travel. Mr. Shelest, his supervisor, and his co-worker agreed that there was no business purpose for taking the alternate route. Taking the alternate route rather than the direct route provided no benefit to Mr. Shelest's employer, and to the contrary, kept Mr. Shelest and the others from returning to work for an extra hour. The only reason Mr. Shelest gave for taking the alternate route was the personal one of enjoying the scenery and the pleasant weather. Together, this...