Thayer v. State
Decision Date | 14 November 2002 |
Docket Number | No. 01-1744.,01-1744. |
Citation | 653 N.W.2d 595 |
Parties | Rita THAYER, Appellant, v. STATE of Iowa, Appellees. |
Court | Iowa Supreme Court |
David L. Baker of Riccolo & Baker, P.C., Cedar Rapids, for appellant.
Thomas J. Miller, Attorney General and Greg Knoploh, Assistant Attorney General, for appellees.
While driving to work in a van owned and operated by her employer, Rita Thayer was paralyzed when the driver of the van lost control causing the van to roll several times.Thayer received workers' compensation benefits for her injuries.She sued her employer, the University of Iowa, for negligence.The district court granted the University's motion for summary judgment.Because we find workers' compensation is Thayer's exclusive remedy, we affirm.
Rita Thayer was paralyzed when the van she was riding in got into an accident.Thayer was riding in a University of Iowa vanpool from her hometown of Cedar Rapids to her job at the University of Iowa in Iowa City.The University supplied vans to certain employees as part of the University of Iowa Employee Vanpool Program.Each participant in the program had to sign an agreement and pay a monthly fee by payroll deduction.1The University subsidized a portion of the costs of the program.
Thayer was not a regular vanpool participant and it is not clear whether she had ridden in the vanpool before.Thayer was riding in the vanpool as a substitute passenger on the day of the accident.She had not signed the agreement with the University for the transportation services.The record is not clear whether she paid a fee for that day.
Thayer sued the University and the driver of the van for negligence.The court granted the University's and the driver's motion for summary judgment.Thayer appealed only the court's dismissal of her claim against the University.
We review the district court's grant of the University's motion for summary judgment for correction of errors at law.McNally & Nimergood v. Neumann-Kiewit Contsructors, Inc.,648 N.W.2d 564, 570(Iowa2002).We consider the evidence presented in the light most favorable to the non-moving party.Id.A district court properly grants summary judgment when there is no genuine issue of material fact and the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law.Iowa R. Civ. P. 1.981(3)(2001).
Thayer argues the district court erred in granting the University's motion for summary judgment.In particular, she asserts workers' compensation is not her exclusive remedy.The University contends Thayer failed to timely appeal the court's ruling on her negligence claim.
The University argues Thayer did not perfect her appeal because she failed to file notice of appeal in a timely manner with the district court clerk.Iowa Rule of Appellate Procedure 6.5(2001) provides, "appeals to the supreme court must be taken within, and not after, thirty days from the entry of the order, judgment, or decree...."Therefore, a party must file its notice of appeal within thirty days from the entry of an adverse judgment.
Iowa R. Civ. P. 1.442(4)(2001)(emphasis added).The time for filing an appeal is tolled upon service if the party files within a reasonable time after service.2
On October 3, 2001, the court granted the University's motion for summary judgment.Under our rule, the thirty-day period expired on November 2, 2001.Thayer served notice of appeal on opposing counsel on October 30, 2001.3Thayer also sent notice of appeal to the district court clerk and the Supreme Court clerk on that date.All but the district court clerk received the notices.On November 29, 2001, the district court informed Thayer it did not have a notice of appeal on record.Thayer filed her notice of appeal with the district court on December 5, 2001.
Cook,264 N.W.2d at 787(quotingWilliamson Heater Co. v. Whitmer,191 Iowa 1115, 1119, 183 N.W. 404, 405(1921)).The facts before us are strikingly similar to those in Cook.Thayer sent notice of appeal in a timely manner to the district court clerk, but, for some reason, the notice did not arrive.Thayer missed the thirty-day filing deadline imposed by our rules of appellate procedure.Her delay was reasonable however — Thayer's filing was only thirty-two days after the deadline was tolled.Because both the University and the Supreme Court clerk received notice of the appeal in a timely fashion, we find no unfairness to the University.In Cookwe found twenty-six days was a reasonable time to file after service.Similarly, under the circumstances of the case before us, thirty-two days was a reasonable time to file the notice of appeal after service on the parties.
Iowa Code section 85.20 does not bar a negligence suit against an employer unless the action arose while the employee was acting within the scope of her employment and the injury arose out of and in the course of her employment.SeeIowa Code § 85.20(1997).The University contends Thayer's injuries arose out of and in the course of her employment such that workers' compensation benefits are her exclusive remedy.Thayer contends she was merely going to work and is not covered by workers' compensation.
Chapter 85 provides a "zone of protection" in workers' compensation making an employer responsible for workers' compensation benefits only for "any and all personal injuries sustained by an employee arising out of and in the course of employment...."Id.§ 85.3(1);Waterhouse Water Conditioning, Inc. v. Waterhouse,561 N.W.2d 55, 57(Iowa1997);Frost v. S.S. Kresge Co.,299 N.W.2d 646, 648(Iowa1980).In general, an injured employee's right to workers' compensation is the employee's exclusive remedy against the employer.Nelson v. Winnebago Indus., Inc.,619 N.W.2d 385, 388(Iowa2000);Bailey v. Batchelder,576 N.W.2d 334, 337(Iowa1998);Iowa Code §§ 85.3(1),85.20.
Iowa Code § 85.61(7).An injury "arises out of" employment if there is a causal connection between the employment and the injury.Waterhouse,561 N.W.2d at 57.This inquiry focuses on the character and source of the risk giving rise to the injury and on the relationship of the risk to the nature of employment.Meade v. Ries,642 N.W.2d 237, 243-44(Iowa2002)(citingBailey,576 N.W.2d at 338).The injury arises in the "course of employment" when the injury and the employment coincide as to time, place, and circumstances.Id.
The facts before us show Thayer was riding in the vanpool on her way to work at 7:15 a.m.Generally, an accident that occurs while an employee is going to work or coming from work does not arise out of and in the course of employment.Quaker Oats Co. v. Ciha,552 N.W.2d 143, 150-51(Iowa1996);Frost,299 N.W.2d at 648.This is known as the "going-and-coming" rule and it has certain recognized exceptions.Frost,299 N.W.2d at 648-49.
One such exception to the going-and-coming rule provides that where the employer has furnished transportation as an incident to employment, the injury is said to have arisen out of and in the course of employment.4This is because the zone of protection may extend to include injuries occurring even beyond the physical parameters of the employer's premises.Bailey,576 N.W.2d at 339;Frost,299 N.W.2d at 648-49.
[W]hen an injury occurs while a worker is being transported to an intended place of employment in a vehicle owned by the employer, the latter's control over that situation makes the vehicle an extension of the work place.
Johnson v. Farmer,537 N.W.2d 770, 772(Iowa1995)(citing1 Arthur Larson, Larson's Workmens' Compensation Law§ 17.00, at 4-209(1995)...
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...we indicated that a twenty-six-day lag between service and filing was "near the line" but acceptable. Cook, 264 N.W.2d at 787. In Thayer v. State, we explained "thirty-two days was a reasonable time to file the notice of appeal after service on the parties." 653 N.W.2d 595, 599 (Iowa 2002).......