Sims v. Delta Fuel

• Court: Mississippi Court of Appeals
• Writing for the Court: CARLTON, P.J., FOR THE COURT
• Citation: Sims v. Delta Fuel, 308 So.3d 859 (Miss. App. 2020)
• Decision Date: 17 March 2020
• Docket Number: NO. 2019-WC-00244-COA,2019-WC-00244-COA
• Parties: Marty SIMS, Appellant v. DELTA FUEL and National Union Fire Insurance Company of Pittsburgh, PA, Appellees

308 So.3d 859

Marty SIMS, Appellant

v.DELTA FUEL and National Union Fire Insurance Company of Pittsburgh, PA, Appellees

NO. 2019-WC-00244-COA

Court of Appeals of Mississippi.

March 17, 2020

Rehearing Denied June 16, 2020

ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLANT: RAYNETRA LASHELL GUSTAVIS, ROGEN K. CHHABRA, Jackson, AMANDA GRACE HILL

ATTORNEY FOR APPELLEES: GINGER MOORE ROBEY, Jackson

EN BANC.

CARLTON, P.J., FOR THE COURT:

¶1. Marty Sims (Sims) was employed by Delta Fuel when he was involved in an automobile accident on October 21, 2016. A day after the accident, Sims suffered a heart attack. Sims filed a petition to controvert with the Mississippi Workers’ Compensation Commission (Commission) claiming that the accident and subsequent medical issues occurred during the course of his employment. Following a hearing, the administrative judge (AJ) entered an order denying Sims's claim for workers’ compensation benefits, finding that neither Sims's motor vehicle accident nor his heart attack arose out of and in the course of employment. Sims appealed the decision to the Commission. After oral argument, the Commission entered an order on January 15, 2019, adopting and affirming the AJ's order. Sims appeals.

¶2. For the reasons stated below, we find that the Commission's order affirming and adopting the AJ's order in full is supported by substantial evidence and that the dual-purpose test, see infra ¶19, was properly applied. We therefore affirm the Commission's order adopting the AJ's determination that Sims's October 21, 2016 motor vehicle accident did not occur in the course and scope of employment.

STATEMENT OF FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

¶3. Sims was employed as a traveling salesman for Delta Fuel. Delta Fuel provides oil, lubricants, and fuel to commercial clients. Sims's job was to secure and service business accounts in the southeastern part of Mississippi. He routinely made sales calls to existing customers as well as potential new ones.

¶4. Sims's older brother, Rodney Sims, was also employed by Delta Fuel and worked in Delta Fuel's Ferriday, Louisiana office. The record reflects that Rodney would sometimes assist his brother with the names of potential clients and product information. They communicated in person, by telephone, through email, or by text messaging.

¶5. Sims was involved in a motor vehicle accident on Friday, October 21, 2016, as he was turning off Highway 469 onto a private drive at Huckleberry Hill, property which was owned or leased by Sims's brother Rodney and used for recreational deer hunting.

¶6. Before the accident that day, Sims made sales calls at Howard Transportation in Ellisville, Mississippi, and Cliburn Tank Lines in Florence, Mississippi. Sims also testified at the hearing that he planned to make a final business call at Partridge Sibley in south Jackson, Mississippi, before 5:00 p.m. that Friday afternoon. On cross-examination at the hearing, Sims admitted that when he was deposed in this matter, he did not mention Partridge Sibley or that he planned on a final sales call to that location. Sims testified at the hearing that "[i]t probably slipped his mind." Sims did not make it to Partridge Sibley because of his motor vehicle accident.

¶7. Cliburn Tank Lines is located on Highway 49 in Florence, Mississippi. Partridge Sibley is located on Savannah Street in south Jackson, Mississippi. Instead of traveling due north on Highway 49 from Cliburn Tank Lines to Partridge Sibley, Sims traveled southwest on Highway 469 toward Crystal Springs. Sims testified that he was traveling to Huckleberry Hill at the time of the motor vehicle accident.

¶8. As noted, Huckleberry Hill was owned or leased by Rodney and used for recreational deer hunting. Sims and Rodney intended to plant food plots at Huckleberry Hill on Saturday, October 22, 2016. Sims traveled to Huckleberry Hill on Friday afternoon, at Rodney's request, to deliver a four-wheeler in preparation for planting food plots on Saturday. Sims and his supervisor at the time, Steve Whittington, acknowledged at the hearing that delivering the four-wheeler to Huckleberry Hill was not related to Sims's employment with Delta Fuel. The collision occurred when Sims turned off Highway 469 onto a private drive at the Huckleberry Hill property.

¶9. Sims testified at the hearing that he was also traveling to Huckleberry Hill to "drop off" a Delta Fuel product list for Rodney's review. Sims acknowledged at the hearing that he knew Rodney would not be there at the time. Rodney also testified he was not at Huckleberry Hill on Friday afternoon, and when he called Sims on Friday morning to ask him to deliver the four-wheeler to Huckleberry Hill, Sims did not mention to him that he had any intentions of reviewing a product list. Rodney further testified that Sims did not mention the product list on Friday afternoon when he (Rodney) got to the scene of the accident, nor did he mention it on Saturday morning when they met to plant food plots. Rodney testified that he did not recall that they were meeting to review a product list, and he acknowledged that as far as he knew, Sims was going by Huckleberry Hill to drop off the four-wheeler that Rodney had asked him to drop off earlier that morning.

¶10. Sims also testified at the hearing that in addition to delivering a product list to Huckleberry Hill, he intended to drive to his home in Crystal Springs after leaving Huckleberry Hill to pick up a form he would need for his business call at Partridge Sibley in Jackson. However, Whittington, Sims's supervisor, testified that Delta Fuel provided Sims with a computer and portable printer for his truck, the form was online, and the "simplest thing to do [to get the form] would be to print it off in [Sims's] truck." Sims also testified that Delta Fuel provided a laptop and a portable printer that he could carry in the truck with him, and the record does not reflect any evidence or testimony that Sims's printer was not available for use on the day of the motor vehicle accident or that he could not access the online form.

¶11. Edward Barber, the person driving the second vehicle involved in the motor vehicle accident on October 21, 2016, testified at the hearing. He testified that he lives on Highway 469 near Huckleberry Hill and knew Sims. Barber spoke to Sims at the scene of the accident, and Barber testified that Sims told him he had planned to "fix" a food plot, and, if he had time, to go hunting on that Friday afternoon.

¶12. After the accident, Sims sought medical treatment at the MEA Clinic in Richland, Mississippi. He then met Rodney and other family members at Jerry's Catfish House in Florence, Mississippi, for dinner that evening. On Saturday morning, Sims met Rodney, his other brother (Shaine Sims) and others, to plant food plots and hang a deer stand. While hanging the deer stand, Sims experienced acute chest pain. He was ultimately transported to the University of Mississippi Medical Center, where he was treated for a heart attack.

¶13. On January 27, 2017, Sims filed his petition to controvert claiming the accident and subsequent medical issues occurred during the course of his employment. In February 2017, Delta Fuel filed an answer denying that the claim was compensable. Following a March 20, 2018 hearing, the AJ entered an order on July 20, 2018, denying Sims's claim for workers’ compensation benefits. She found that neither Sims's motor vehicle accident nor his heart attack arose out of and in the course of employment. The AJ determined that Sims was on a dual-purpose trip on October 21, 2016, having both personal and business purposes. She further concluded that but for the personal mission, the business mission would not have compelled Sims's travel at the time and place of the motor vehicle accident. Under this analysis, the AJ determined that the risk of Sims's trip was personal and that the injuries resulting from the accident did not arise in the course and scope of employment.

¶14. Sims appealed the decision to the Commission. After oral argument, the Commission entered an order on January 15, 2019, adopting and affirming the AJ's order. Sims appeals.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

¶15. An appellate court's review in a workers’ compensation case "is limited to determining whether the Commission's decision was supported by substantial evidence, was arbitrary and capricious, was beyond the scope or power of the agency to make, or violated [the claimant's] constitutional or statutory rights." Gregg v. Natchez Trace Elec. Power Ass'n , 64 So. 3d 473, 475 (¶8) (Miss. 2011). In this regard, an appellate court's review of the facts on appeal "is not with an eye toward determining how [the appellate court] would resolve the factual issues were [it] the [trier] of the fact; rather, [the appellate court's] function is to determine whether there is substantial credible evidence which would support the factual determination made by the Commission." S. Cent. Bell Tel. Co. v. Aden , 474 So. 2d 584, 589 (Miss. 1985). "Substantial evidence is such relevant evidence as reasonable minds might accept as adequate to support a conclusion." Choctaw Resort Dev. Enter. v. Applequist , 161 So. 3d 1134, 1137 (¶6) (Miss. Ct. App. 2015) (internal quotation mark omitted). If there is "such substantial credible evidence, [the appellate court is] without authority to disturb that which the Commission has found, even though that evidence would not be sufficient to convince [the appellate court] were [it] the [factfinder]." Aden , 474 So. 2d at 589-90. "This Court affords de novo review to the Commission's application of the law." Gregg , 64 So. 3d at 475 (¶9).

DISCUSSION

¶16. Sims asserts that under Mississippi law, the October 21, 2016 motor vehicle accident and injuries, including the heart attack, are compensable because the accident arose out of and occurred in the course and scope of his employment as a traveling salesman with Delta Fuel. Sims argues the decision of the AJ, as affirmed by the Commission, was not...