HOLSEY GRAY, APPELLANT,
v.
DADE COUNTY SCHOOL BOARD AND GALLAGHER BASSETT INSURANCE SERVICE, APPELLEES

Fla. 1st DCA | 1983-06-07
No. AN-215
ROBERT P. SMITH, Jr., C.J., concurs., SHIVERS, J., dissents with opinion.
433 So. 2d 1009 Florida District Court of Appeal, First District (1983) Caution
Cited by 10 cases

AI-generated. These summaries, headnotes, and key points are machine-generated and may contain errors or omissions. Always verify against the full opinion text below. Not legal advice.

Synopsis

A school administrator injured while driving home from a football game where he had worked as a ticket-taker appeals a denial of workers' compensation benefits. The court affirmed the denial, holding that the injury fell under the "going and coming" rule because the activity was not a special errand that would exempt it from that rule.


Holding

The court held that Gray's injury is not compensable under workers' compensation because it falls within the "going and coming" rule. The special errand exception does not apply because the activity was not a sudden or irregular call from the employer, was not contemplated in Gray's employment, and the brief journey was not substantial relative to the task performed.


Headnotes

[1] Injuries suffered while going to or coming from work are generally not considered work-related and are therefore noncompensable under the "going and coming" rule.

[2] The "going and coming" rule does not apply to employees on special errands or missions for their employer.

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Key Quotes

“the going and coming rule is grounded in the recognition that injuries suffered while going to or coming from work are essentially similar to other injuries suffered off duty away from the employer's premises and, like those other injuries, are not work related. Therefore, going and coming injuries are as a rule noncompensable.”

Establishes the foundational principle of the going and coming rule and why such injuries are generally not compensable under workers' compensation law.

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Facts & Procedural History

Gray had been employed by Dade County School Board for 27 years and served as chairman of the guidance department at Miami Northwestern High School fo…

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Opinion of the Court
WIGGINTON, Judge.

WIGGINTON, Judge.

Claimant appeals the order of the deputy commissioner denying compensation on the basis of the “going and coming” rule. We affirm.

Claimant has been employed by the Dade County School Board (employer) for the past twenty-seven years, and has served as chairman of the guidance department at Miami Northwestern High School for the past ten years. His administrative and supervisory duties, as chairman, are confined to and require his daily attendance at Miami Northwestern from 7:15 a.m. to 2:40 p.m.

On Friday, November 20, 1981, at 11:00 p.m., claimant was injured in an automobile accident occurring while he was en route home from the Orange Bowl, where he had been taking tickets and counting ticket money during a Miami Northwestern football game. On that day, claimant had worked his regular job, returned home at 2:40 p.m. and at 6:30 p.m. reported to the Orange Bowl, located approximately two to three miles from his home. For his work, claimant was paid $25 out of the athletic fund, plus was given a parking pass for use at the Orange Bowl during the game. Theodore Blue, the high school’s business manager for athletics, testified that it was his responsibility as business manager to obtain personnel so that the football game could be run; that he preferred to use “volunteer personnel” from Miami Northwestern to perform this function, rather than hire outside help; and that claimant had always been one faculty member he could depend upon, when asked to work the games. Regarding the November 20 game, Blue had requested Gray’s services several days before, as well as the day of, the game.

In response to the claim for compensation, the employer/carrier filed a notice to controvert, contending that claimant’s accident did not arise out of and in the course of employment. The deputy agreed, finding no indication of a special errand under the circumstances to exempt claimant’s case from the general “going and coming” rule.

As set forth by the supreme court in Eady v. Medical Personnel Pool, 377 So. 2d 693 (Fla.1979), the going and coming rule

is grounded in the recognition that injuries suffered while going to or coming from work are essentially similar to other injuries suffered off duty away from the employer’s premises and, like those other injuries, are not work related. Therefore, going and coming injuries are as a rule noncompensable. But numerous exceptions allow compensation in certain circumstances ... [citations omitted].

One such exception, advanced by the claimant here, is that the going and coming rule does not apply to employees on special errands or missions for the employer. Eady; Feltner v. Southern Bell Telephone & Telegraph Co., 274 So. 2d 530 (Fla.1973); Moody v. Baxley, 158 Fla. 357, 28 So. 2d 325 (1946). The special errand exception owes its validity to the principle that the journey itself is the substantial part of the service performed for the employer. 1A. Larson, The Law of Workmen’s Compensation § 16.00 (1978). A basic premise of this exception is an implied agreement on the employer’s part, shown by the course of business, that the going to and coming from a special errand fall within the sanctuary of compensation. Blount v. State Road Department, 87 So. 2d 507 (Fla.1956). The test, as recognized in Blount, is primarily one of fact; but as a practical matter, the irregularity or suddenness of a call from the employer will generally qualify the trip as a special errand.

In the instant case, there are no facts that would indicate that claimant’s activity at the Orange Bowl was anything other than an extra job. There was no “sudden call” from his employer, nor was the activity particularly irregular, as the evidence indicated that claimant often assisted at the games and was requested to do so in advance. Nor was it an activity contemplated, impliedly or not, in the employment.1 Finally, and most important, the relative burden of the journey was insignificant in comparison to the extent of the task claimant was to perform; that is, the two or three mile trip to the Orange Bowl was not so substantial as to be part of the service performed. Thus, there being no showing of a special errand, the circumstances of claimant’s accident fall within the going and coming rule and is not compensable. The order of the deputy to that effect is AFFIRMED.

ROBERT P. SMITH, Jr., C.J., concurs.

SHIVERS, J., dissents with opinion.

. This factor would serve to distinguish the case from Binet v. Ocean Gate Board of Education, 90 N.J.Super. 571, 218 A. 2d 869 (N.J.Super.Ct.App.Div.1966), and Heinz v. Concord Union School District, 117 N.H. 214, 371 A. 2d 1161 (N.H. 1977), cited by claimant, in which it was shown that although not obligated to do so, teachers were expected to give fully of their services and participate to a reasonable extent in school activities.

Dissent
SHIVERS, Judge,

SHIVERS, Judge,

dissenting.

I respectfully dissent and would reverse, finding that claimant came within the going and coming rule exception relating to performance of special services or errands for his employer after regular hours. See Eady v. Medical Personnel Pool, 377 So. 2d 693 (Fla.1979). The journey was not a regular or frequent one, but occurred only when the athletic director was unable to find other assistance. The journey to and from the Orange Bowl was an integral part of the errand and was sufficiently irregular to be considered special.


Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus


Citator

Cited By

  • Tessan Swartz v. McDONALD'S Corp., 788 So. 2d 937 (Fla. 2001)
    …“special errand or mission” interchangeably in cases that were exclusively applying the special errand exception. See Eady, 377 So. 2d at 695; New Dade Apparel, 512 So. 2d at 1017; Susan Loverings, 498 So. 2d at 1034; Gray v. Dade County School Bd., 433 So. 2d 1009 (Fla. 1st DCA 1983). Nevertheless, other courts have used that term when concomitantly applying both the special errand exception and the dual purpose doctrine. See Spartan, 525 So. 2d at 989; D.C. Moore, 568 So. 2d at 999; Tampa Airport Hilton, 557…
  • Freeman v. Manpower, Inc., 453 So. 2d 208 (Fla. 1st DCA 1984)
    …the employee has as part of his job the duty to return to the job site to perform a task which consumes relatively little time. See 1A. Larson, The Law of Workmen’s Compensation § 16.00 (1978); Eady, supra, at 696; Gray v. Dade County School Board, 433 So. 2d 1009, 1011 (Fla. 1st DCA 1983). Also, the time and length of the journey involved in the case at bar appear to be no greater than the vast majority of instances involving workers reporting to their job sites in the community in which they reside. • The…
  • …Cherry Farms, Inc., 449 So. 2d 393 (Fla. 1st DCA 1984). Injuries occurring at such times are viewed as similar to other injuries suffered off-duty away from the employer’s premises and, like them, are not work-related. Gray v. Dade Co. School Board, 433 So. 2d 1009, 1010-11 (Fla. 1st DCA 1983). Applicability of the rule depends upon the nature and circumstances of the particular employment and “no exact formula can be laid down which will automatically solve every case.” Sweat v. Allen, 200 So. 348, 350 (Fla.1…

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