EL VIEJO ARCO IRIS, INC., AND AMERICAN CASUALTY COMPANY, APPELLANTS,
v.
ILDEFONSO LUACES, APPELLEE
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A workers' compensation appeal concerning whether an employee injured in a car accident while driving home from work after picking up materials for his employer at the employer's request was entitled to compensation. The court reversed the workers' compensation order, holding that the employee was not within the course of his employment under the going and coming rule.
The court held that the employee was not entitled to compensation. Although the employee had been on a special errand for his employer, he had completed that errand before the accident occurred and was thereafter on his customary route home. The going and coming rule bars compensation for injuries sustained while going to or coming from work, and the special errand exception does not apply once the errand is completed and the employee resumes his ordinary commute.
[1] Injuries sustained by a claimant while going to or coming from their place of work are generally not considered to have arisen out of and in the course of employment.
[2] The special errand exception to the going and coming rule applies when a claimant is injured while undertaking a task for the employer that is outside the scope of their…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“Injuries sustained by a claimant while going to or coming from his place of work are not considered to have arisen out of and in the course of his employment.”
Statement of the going and coming rule, the fundamental principle governing the case.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceClaimant, a plumber's helper, worked an eight-hour shift at a job site, leaving at 3:55 p.m. to drive home via his customary route. At his employer's …
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SHIVERS, Judge.
Employer/carrier appeal a workers’ compensation order finding the claimant sustained a compensable accident. We reverse.
Claimant, a plumber’s helper, was injured in an automobile accident while driving home from work after first picking up some materials from a plumbing supply store at the request of his employer. The plumbing materials were to be used at the job site the next day. Although the employer maintained a company shop, the claimant testified that he usually reported directly to the particular job site at 7:30 a. m. and would return home from the job site at 4:00 p. m. The day of the accident, the claimant worked eight hours at the job site. At 3:55 p. m., he left the job site and took his usual route home. Pursuant to his employer’s request, he picked up the plumbing materials at the supply store which was on his route home. After picking up the materials, he resumed his trip home and was involved in the automobile accident at 4:05 p. m. The deputy commissioner erred in failing to apply the going and coming rule and in finding that the claimant was involved in a special errand for the employer at the time of the automobile accident while on his way home. Injuries sustained by a claimant while going to or coming from his place of work are not considered to have arisen out of and in the course of his employment. George v. Woodville Lumber Company, 382 So. 2d 802 (Fla.1980).
The deputy commissioner attempted to justify the award under the special errand exception to the going and coming rule. Eady v. Medical Personnel Pool, 377 So. 2d 693 (Fla.1979). Eady, supra, held that a claimant, who was injured while en route from her home to a special assignment from the employer after already working an eight hour work shift that day, was not within the going and coming rule because she was on a special errand for the employer at the time of the injury, the special errand assignment came suddenly, and the particular route to the assignment was not a regular or frequent one. The court noted that if the “particular journey is a regular or frequent one, there is a strong presumption that the going and coming rule applies.” However, since the claimant’s journey in Eady, supra, was a substantial part of the service performed for the employer because the assignment was sudden and the journey was not a regular or frequent one, the going and coming rule was not applicable.
In the present case, unlike Eady, supra, claimant was injured on his customary route home after completing the special errand for the employer and after completing the day’s work. The plumbing supply store at which the claimant had picked up the materials for the employer was on his direct route home. He was injured on a journey that was regular and frequent, not subject to a sudden call by the employer, and the burden of picking up the materials on the claimant was minor when viewed in the context of the claimant’s usual duties and his usual route home. See, United States Fidelity & Guaranty Company v. Rowe, 126 So. 2d 737 (Fla. 1961) (holding that a claimant injured while carrying employer funds home pursuant to her employer’s instructions was not entitled to compensation); Sievers v. Friden, FCR 200, cert. denied, 157 So. 2d 819 (Fla.1963); Central Florida Carpentry v. Jones, IRC Order 2-2937 (1976) (holding that transportation of employer’s tools at employer’s request was not enough to extend coverage to claimant’s accident occurring on the way to work); Quality Wood Products, Inc. v. Awad, IRC Order 2-2946, cert. denied, 345 So. 2d 420 (Fla. 1977).
Had the claimant’s accident occurred pri-or to picking up the plumbing supplies, then the claimant would have still been within the course of his employment and under the special errand exception to the going and coming rule. However, since the claimant had completed the burden of performing the employer’s instructions by picking up the plumbing supplies, he was outside his employment at the time of the accident. Consequently, under the going and coming rule, claimant is not entitled to compensation since his accident occurred while en route home from work.
Accordingly, the appealed order is REVERSED.
SHAW and THOMPSON, JJ., concur.
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Tessan Swartz v. McDONALD'S Corp., 788 So. 2d 937 (Fla. 2001)…iming and nature of the journey, the suddenness of the employer’s request, the time and length of the journey, and any other special circumstances. See Eady, 377 So. 2d at 696. Applying these factors, the court in El Viejo Arco Iris, Inc. v. Luaces, 395 So. 2d 225 (Fla. 1st DCA 1981), held that an employee’s trip home, after picking up plumbing supplies at the request of his employer, did not fall within the special errand exception because his journey was regular and frequent, the employer’s request was not…
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Spartan Food Sys. & Subsidiaries & Seibels v. Hopkins, 525 So. 2d 987 (Fla. 1st DCA 1988)…that the special errand had ceased when an employee was injured after resuming his normal route home subsequent to stopping in compliance with his employer’s request to obtain supplies for the next day’s work. See El Viejo Arco Iris Inc. v. Luaces, 395 So. 2d 225 (Fla. 1st DCA 1981). The Luaces ruling should not be extended to the circumstances of the present case, as the court there indicated that the employee was injured on a regular and frequent journey, she was not subject to a sudden call by the employe…
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Tampa Airport Hilton Hotel & Travelers Ins. Co. v. Veulah Hawkins, 557 So. 2d 953 (Fla. 1st DCA 1990)…mber 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…
Previewing 3 of 10 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- Eady v. Medical Personnel Pool, 377 So. 2d 693 (Fla. 1979)
- United States Fid. & Guar. Co. & Day Nursery Ass'n of Duval Cnty. v. Alpha Omega Rowe, 126 So. 2d 737 (Fla. 1961)
- Whaley v. State, 382 So. 2d 802 (Fla. 1st DCA 1980)
- Handy George, Jr. v. Woodville Lumber Co. & Travelers Ins. Co., 382 So. 2d 802 (Fla. 1st DCA 1980)
- Westinghouse Elec. Corp. v. Carol Fla. Corp., 157 So. 2d 819 (Fla. 1963)
- F. W. Woolworth Co. v. Stevens, 157 So. 2d 819 (Fla. 1963)