Opinion ID: 1152432
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Coverage Denied

Text: In Hafner v. A.G. Edwards & Sons, 903 S.W.2d 197 (Mo. App. 1995), Hafner was hit by a car in the street in front of her employer's premises on the way to the employee parking lot. The pivotal issue was whether the employer's premises could be extended to include the area of the street where Hafner was injured. 903 S.W.2d at 200. The employer had obtained permission from the city to install a crosswalk controlled by a traffic signal to assist employees in crossing the street between the parking lot and the employer's premises. The employer had handed out leaflets to employees on three occasions encouraging them to use the crosswalk. Hafner did not use the crosswalk. She argued that the employer had subjected her to a special hazard in requiring her to cross the street between the parking lot and the employer's premises. The court denied coverage because: (1) the employer had not encouraged employees to cross the street at any point other than the crosswalk; (2) the street (including the crosswalk) was open to the general public, and the employer never exerted or attempted to exert any control over it; and (3) by choosing not to use the crosswalk. Hafner subjected herself to the same hazards as any member of the general public who chooses to cross a public thoroughfare outside a painted crosswalk. The Hafner court emphasized that the employer provided the traffic light and crosswalk as a safer alternative, to assist employees. 903 S.W.2d at 201. Coverage was also denied in Verret v. Travelers Insurance Company, 166 So.2d 292, 294-95 (La. 1964) (Employee was hit by a car and killed while crossing a private drive, not owned by the employer, adjacent to the employer's premises, which employees used going to and from work. No unusual risks or peculiar hazard from the traffic existed. The general public was equally exposed to any such risk.). See also Maddox v. Heaven Hill Distilleries, Inc., 329 S.W.2d 189 (Ky. 1959) (Employee was hit by a car as he crossed the public highway between employer's premises and the employer-furnished parking lot. No coverage.). When we test the facts of the instant case by our definition of `arising out of' we find that this injury did not result from a risk connected with Maddox' employment because all persons using public highways are exposed to the same hazard. It did not result from a danger peculiar to the [employer's] industry. 329 S.W.2d at 191.