Tampa Airport Hilton Hotel v. Hawkins
Decision Date | 12 March 1990 |
Docket Number | No. 89-2130,89-2130 |
Citation | 557 So.2d 953 |
Parties | 15 Fla. L. Weekly D668 TAMPA AIRPORT HILTON HOTEL and Travelers Insurance Company, Appellants, v. Veulah HAWKINS, Appellee. |
Court | Florida District Court of Appeals |
Ellen H. Lorenzen of Whalen, Morlan, Lorenzen, House & Schaefer, Tampa, for appellants.
Stephen L. Rosen of Morris & Rosen, P.A., Tampa, for appellee.
The employer and carrier appeal a workers' compensation order that found that claimant's injuries in the automobile accident occurring on a trip from the employer's premises to claimant's home arose out of and in the course of her employment and thus were caused by a compensable accident. The judge of compensation claims found that this trip did not fall within the "going and coming" rule because the claimant, a banquet waitress who was on her way home after attending a special staff meeting at the employer's hotel well in advance of the normal time she was to report to work for her regular duties, was on a special trip for the benefit of the employer. The order recites:
4. Counsel for the parties have furnished several case citations for precedent, none of which are factually on point with the facts of this case, and research has not revealed any Florida authority that is factually on point. The Claimant relies on Krause v. West Lumber Co., 227 So.2d 486 (Fla.1969); Eady v. Medical Personnel Pool, 377 So.2d 693 (Fla.1979); and Spartan Food Systems & Subsidiaries v. Hopkins, 525 So.2d 987 (Fla. 1 DCA 1988).
The Employer/Carrier relies on El Viejo Arco Iris, Inc. v. Luaces, 395 So.2d 225 (Fla. 1 DCA 1981) and Tampa Ship Repair and Dry Dock v. Young, 421 So.2d 706 (Fla. 1 DCA 1982).
While none of these cases are factually on point, most, if not all, indicate that Florida follows the rule set out in 1 A. Larson, The Law of Workmen's Compensation, s. 16.00 (1978). The rule as set out by Professor Larson is:
"When an employee, having identifiable time and space limits on his employment, makes an off-premises journey which would normally not be covered under the usual going and coming rule, the journey may be brought within the course of employment by the fact that the trouble and time of making the journey, or the special inconvenience, hazard, or urgency of making it in the particular circumstances, is itself sufficiently substantial to be viewed as an integral part of the service itself."
Professor Larson cites Edens v. New Mexico Health and Social Serv. Dep't., 89 N.M. 60, 547 P.2d 65 (1976), which is factually very similar to the case before us.
5. The Claimant in this cause was employed by the Employer as a banquet waitress, meaning that her duties were to serve at banquets that were held at the Tampa Airport Hilton Hotel. Her duties were primarily those of a waitress. At the Employer's request, she returned to the premises on 9/26/88 to attend a staff meeting called by the Employer. The purpose of this meeting was to allow the Management to go over procedure with the Employees, work out difficulties, etc. These meetings are scheduled by the Employer, at the Employer's convenience, and the Employees, absent a valid reason, are expected to be there. The Claimant was paid for the time she was there for the meeting, but not for the travel time. The accident occurred while the Claimant was on her direct route home from the meeting, and if the accident had not occurred, she would have been expected to be back to the Employer's premises at 4:00 P.M. for her regular job of working a banquet. If it were not for the meeting being called by the Employer, the Claimant would not have been to the Employer's premises and then back home until she was due to report to work.
6. I find that the primary reason for the meeting in question was for the benefit of the Employer. While it might be said that the Claimant would get some benefit from the meeting in the nature of making her work easier in some way, the primary purpose was to allow the Employer to work on better ways to serve its customers and to provide better service, thereby resulting in revenue and profit for the Employer. I find that the expense and inconvenience caused this Employee in having to go to the Employer's premises, a considerable distance, at a time in which the Employee would otherwise have been off, and the subjection of the Claimant to the hazards of this travel for the benefit of the Employer, was a "Special inconvenience and hazard" within the intent of this rule, making the travel itself an integral part of the service provided this Employer by this Employee, and that the accident in question arose out of and in the course of the employment with...
To continue reading
Request your trial-
Swartz v. McDonald's Corp.
...so doing, the court did not distinguish between the special errand and dual purpose exceptions. Likewise, in Tampa Airport Hilton Hotel v. Hawkins, 557 So.2d 953 (Fla. 1st DCA 1990), the court simultaneously applied special errand and dual purpose principles, noting that because the employe......
-
Torres v. Aulick Leasing, Inc., S-00-1187.
...depends on factual determinations); Electronic Service Clinic v. Barnard, 634 So.2d 707 (Fla.App.1994); Tampa Airport Hilton Hotel v. Hawkins, 557 So.2d 953 (Fla.App.1990) (whether employee's activity is covered by special errand exception is factual determination and cannot be disturbed on......
-
Rodriguez v. Tri-State Carriers, Inc.
...So.2d 1002, 1004-05 (Fla.1984); Hages v. Hughes Elec. Serv., 654 So.2d 1280, 1281 (Fla. 1st DCA 1995); Tampa Airport Hilton Hotel v. Hawkins, 557 So.2d 953, 955 (Fla. 1st DCA 1990). ERVIN and WEBSTER, JJ., concur. ...
-
Publix Supermarkets v. Finocchi
...generally depends on factual determinations which must be supported by competent substantial evidence. See Tampa Airport Hilton Hotel v. Hawkins, 557 So.2d 953 (Fla. 1st DCA 1990). The present record contains sufficient evidence to support the factual findings upon which compensability was ......
-
Private employers' workers' compensation liability for on-call employees.
...(21) See Vigliotti v. K-Mart Corp., 680 So.2d 466 (Fla. 1st D.C.A. 1996). (22) See Tampa Airport Hilton Hotel v. Traveler's Ins. Co., 557 So. 2d 953 (Fla. 1st D.C.A. (23) See Central Air Conditioning Co. v. Garren, 239 So. 2d 497 (Fla. 1970). (24) Remember, there are other liability issues ......