Steffes v. 93 Leasing Co., Inc.

• Decision Date: 13 June 1978
• Docket Number: No. 13937,13937
• Citation: 177 Mont. 83,35 St.Rep. 816,580 P.2d 450
• Court: Montana Supreme Court
• Parties: Diane C. STEFFES, Claimant and Respondent, v. 93 LEASING COMPANY, INC., Employer and United States Fidelity & Guaranty Company, Defendants and Appellants.

Page 450

580 P.2d 450

177 Mont. 83

Diane C. STEFFES, Claimant and Respondent, v. 93 LEASING COMPANY, INC., Employer and United States Fidelity & Guaranty Company, Defendants and Appellants.

No. 13937.

Supreme Court of Montana.

Submitted April 27, 1978.

Decided June 13, 1978.

Larry E. Riley argued, Garlington, Lohn & Robinson, Missoula, for claimant and respondent.

Boone, Karlberg & Haddon, Sam E. Haddon argued, Missoula, for defendants and appellants.

HASWELL, Chief Justice.

Defendant United States Fidelity & Guaranty Company (U.S.F.&G.) appeals from an order of the Workers' Compensation Court which determined that decedent had met his death while in the course and scope of his employment, which provided certain benefits be paid claimant, and which imposed a statutory penalty increasing the award to claimant by 10 percent.

In the early morning hours of July 31, 1976, James R. Steffes, an employee of 93 Leasing Company, Inc., of Missoula, Montana, was killed in a pickup-truck collision as he and the driver of the pickup, Steve Kottre, were returning from Seeley Lake to Missoula. Both Steffes and Kottre had been drinking heavily during the night, and at the time of the accident, Steffes was legally intoxicated. His blood alcohol level was determined to be 0.34 gm% (gm/100ml).

On the evening of July 30, 1976, Steffes drove a 1976 Pontiac automobile owned by 93 Leasing to Seeley Lake to exchange it with a Chevrolet Blazer owned by Mrs. Jean Strickrodt so that 93 Leasing could estimate the trade-in value of the Blazer. Steffes left Missoula after work, apparently met Kottre in Seeley Lake, and about 10:00 p. m. found Mrs. Strickrodt in a bar. While discussing the trade-in they had a few drinks. Steffes put the Pontiac car keys on the bar table for Mrs. Strickrodt, but she told him she could not exchange vehicles right then because she did not have the Blazer with her.

A while later Steffes discovered the car keys were missing. Someone had seen Dean Kottre, Steve's nephew, in the car earlier in the evening. After Steffes checked the parking lot about midnight and saw that the Pontiac was missing, he decided to wait at the bar to see if Dean Kottre would return the car. At that time he was worried not only about the missing car, but also about his money and wallet which he had left in the car's glove compartment.

When Steffes and Steve Kottre left the bar around closing time, the missing car had still not been returned. During their one to one and a half hour stay there, they drank coffee, had some breakfast, and discussed what could have happened to the Pontiac. After Steffes and Kottre left Mrs. Strickrodt's home, in Kottre's pickup, they were involved in an accident on Highway 200, near Greenough, Montana, in which Steffes was killed.

About thirty or forty-five minutes after the accident, Kottre was questioned by Howard Nickelson, an ambulance driver at the scene of the accident about what had happened. Kottre told Nickelson that Steffes and he had a motel room in Seeley Lake to stay that night, but that Steffes had wanted to return to Missoula to look for the missing car.

In August 1976, Mrs. Steffes' attorney met with U.S.F.&G., 93 Leasing's insurer, to discuss compensation payments to Mrs. Steffes. On August 20, 1976, her attorney submitted briefs to U.S.F.&G. in support of her claim for compensation. U.S.F.&G. requested additional time to make a determination about Mrs. Steffes' claim and specifically requested that no final decision be made until an inquest into Steffes' death, scheduled for October 20, 1976, was held. On October 29, 1976, U.S.F.&G. denied Mrs. Steffes' claim for compensation. The reason given by U.S.F.&G. was that they believed the accident did not arise out of and in the course of employment.

At trial, held April 12, 1977, U.S.F.&G. presented no new evidence concerning its denial of Mrs. Steffes' claim. The Workers' Compensation Court entered findings of fact and conclusions of law and an order dated July 27, 1977, in which it found that James Steffes met his death while acting in the scope and course of his employment, awarded his beneficiaries weekly benefits in the amount of $162 per week, a burial benefit, and their attorney fees and costs, and increased the full amount of the award by 10 percent pursuant to section 92-849, R.C.M.1947, after it concluded that the insurer had unreasonably refused compensation. Defendant appeals from this order.

The sole issue on appeal is the sufficiency of the evidence to support the findings of fact and conclusions of law of the Workers' Compensation Court. Specifically, defendant questions the findings and conclusions in two areas:

1. Sufficiency of the evidence to support the finding and conclusions that Steffes' death arose out of and in the course of his employment; and

2. Sufficiency of the evidence to support the finding and conclusion that compensation had been unreasonably withheld by defendant and that under section 92-849, R.C.M.1947, a 10 percent penalty should be imposed.

Our function in reviewing a decision of the Workers' Compensation Court is to determine whether there is substantial evidence to support the findings and conclusions of that court. We cannot substitute our judgment for that of the trial court as to the weight of the evidence on questions of fact. Where there is substantial evidence to support the findings of the Workers' Compensation Court, this Court cannot overturn the decision. Bond v. St. Regis Paper Co., (1977), Mont., 571 P.2d 372, 34 St.Rep. 1237. Robins v. Anaconda Aluminum Co., (1978), Mont., 575 P.2d 67, 35 St.Rep. 213.

Defendant's position on the first issue is that there is not substantial evidence in the record to support the Workers' Compensation Court's conclusion that Steffes' death occurred within the course and scope of his employment. They contend that either the "deviation" rule of the "dual purpose" rule, but not the "going and coming" rule, upon which the court relied, governs the outcome of this case. We believe that, irrespective of which rule is relied on, the evidence shows that Steffes' was acting in the course and scope of his employment at the time the accident occurred.

Generally, an injury sustained in going to or coming from work does not arise out of and in the course of employment within the meaning of the Workers' Compensation Act. Hagerman v. Galen State Hospital, (1977), Mont.,570 P.2d 893, 34 St.Rep. 1150. However, in Hagerman this Court recognized two exceptions to the rule: (1) where employee travel pay was covered under the employment contract, and (2) where the travel was for the special benefit of the employer. This second exception to the general rule would be the applicable exception in this case.

This Court has previously utilized this exception to allow compensation for injuries sustained in going to or coming from work. We have said that:

" * * * A person injured on the street or highway is entitled to compensation when, as part of his employment, he is using the streets or highways in carrying on the work of his master." Guarascio v. Industrial Accident Board, (1962), 140 Mont. 497, 501, 374 P.2d 84, 86.

The underlying principle of this exception is that in cases where some reasonably immediate service to the employer can be discerned, the claim should be sustained; where there is no reasonably immediate service, the claim should be denied. Guarascio, supra.

In this case, Steffes had traveled to Seeley Lake to exchange automobiles with a potential customer in order to appraise the trade-in value of her car. He met the customer at a bar and spent the evening socializing with her and others. The general manager of 93 Leasing, Jerry Butler, testified that it was permissible for Steffes to travel to Seeley Lake and exchange cars in this manner and that it was often necessary for a salesman to socialize with customers.

During the course of Steffes' stay in Seeley Lake, someone took the car belonging to 93 Leasing. Although Steffes had personal use of this car, it was a demonstrator owned by his employer. The unrefuted testimony of the ambulance attendant was that Steven Kottre had told him that he and Steffes were returning to Missoula to look for the stolen car which belonged to his employer and which he had been using for a job related activity. Thus, we believe the evidence shows that Steffes' trip back to Missoula was for the benefit of his employer and he was acting in the course and scope of his employment at the time of his death.

We are of the opinion that the same conclusion can be reached under the "deviation" rule. This rule is best described as follows:

"It is a generally recognized principle that when an employee departs from the area where his job requires him to be, to pursue an objective in nowise essential to or incidental to...