Walsh v. Industrial Commission
| Decision Date | 17 September 1974 |
| Docket Number | No. 74--098,74--098 |
| Citation | 34 Colo.App. 371,527 P.2d 1180 |
| Parties | Barbara S. WALSH, Petitioner-Appellant, v. INDUSTRIAL COMMISSION of the State of Colorado et al., Respondents-Appellees. . III |
| Court | Colorado Court of Appeals |
David C. Mize, Colorado Springs, for petitioner-appellant.
John P. Moore, Atty. Gen., John E. Bush, Deputy Atty. Gen., Peter L. Dye, Asst. Atty. Gen., Denver, for respondent-appellee Industrial Commission of the State of Colorado.
Francis L. Bury, Robert S. Ferguson, James A. May, Denver, for respondents-appellees Colorado Cascade Corp. and State Compensation Insurance Fund.
This is a workmen's compensation case. Concluding that petitioner's injuries had not occurred in the course of her employment, the Industrial Commission awarded no benefits, and the petitioner seeks review. We reverse.
There is no significant dispute over the facts. One snowy morning petitioner left her house in an unsuccessful attempt to drive to work. Drifted snow and icy conditions impeded her progress, and her vehicle became stuck approximately one-half mile from her home. She walked back to her residence, called her employer and reported that she was unable to get to work because of the weather and road conditions. As supported by the evidence and found by the referee, it was either in that conversation, or one occurring shortly thereafter with a secretary, that petitioner was told to immediately attempt to get to work by any means available to her, since she had already missed two days of work because of a snow storm. Petitioner again left her residence, and while walking back to her car on a public street she slipped on ice and fell, injuring her arm, shoulder, and neck.
C.R.S.1963, 81--13--2, states that compensation shall be awarded:
'(c) Where, at the time of the accident, the employee is performing service arising out of and in the course of his employment;
'(d) Where the injury . . . is proximately caused by accident arising out of and in the course of his employment . . ..'
The parties agree that the general rule in Colorado, and throughout the country, is that off premises injuries are not compensable if employees have fixed hours of employment and the injury takes place while going 'to or from' work. See 1 A. Larson, Workmen's Compensation Law § 15, and Industrial Commission v. Anderson, 69 Colo. 147, 169 P. 135, wherein the general rule is stated as follows:
'By the great weight of authority it appears, in the absence of Special circumstances bringing the accident within the scope of the employment, that no compensation is recoverable by a workman who is injured while on his way to or from his work.' (emphasis supplied)
Petitioner urges that the facts in this case were such 'special circumstances' as to justify an exception to the general rule. Petitioner contends that since she was traveling to work that morning only because of her employer's instruction, which instruction had been issued with knowledge of the hazardous traveling conditions, her resulting injuries are compensable. The employer, on the other hand, urges that this fact situation does not come under any of the exceptions to the 'to and from' rule.
Where the facts are undisputed, the commission's conclusions of law are not binding on us. Dorsch v. Industrial Commission, Colo.App., 518 P.2d 954. Since the salient facts here are not contested, we need only decide whether the injury arises out of the course of employment. The test is whether there is a causal connection between the duties of the employment and the injuries. Industrial Commission v....
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...and the decedent would have stayed home but for the audit. Id., 446 N.Y.S.2d at 521. Similarly, in Walsh v. Industrial Commission, 34 Colo.App. 371, 527 P.2d 1180 (1974), the claimant's car became stuck in a snowstorm as she was travelling to work. She walked home and called her employer, t......
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