Opinion ID: 2639255
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Employee's status as traveling employee.

Text: Normally, an employee traveling to and from work is not within the course of employment and is not covered by worker's compensation. Clark v. Daniel Morine Constr. Co., 98 Idaho 114, 559 P.2d 293 (1977). It is the claimant's burden to show by a preponderance of the evidence that the accident arose out of and in the course of employment. Basin Land Irr. Co. v. Hat Butte Canal Co., 114 Idaho 121, 124, 754 P.2d 434, 437 (1988). When an employee's work requires him to travel away from the employer's place of business or his normal place of work, the employee is covered by worker's compensation. Ridgway v. Combined Ins. Cos. Of America, 98 Idaho 410, 411-12, 565 P.2d 1367, 1368-69 (1977). This is known as the traveling employee rule, adopted in Idaho in Ridgway, supra . Wasatch contests the Commission's finding that Cheung was a traveling employee, insisting that she was assigned to work at both the Minidoka site and the AMI site. Wasatch argues that Cheung's work required that she report to work, either at the Minidoka site or at the AMI site, at her discretion; and that on the day of the accident, Cheung was simply on the highway, going to work, headed toward her destination, Pocatello. Wasatch asserts that Cheung's work did not require travel away from the employer's premises and accordingly did not involve an exception to the coming and going rule. This Court has recognized that the traveling employee doctrine does not require that an employee receive travel expenses while traveling or that traveling be a part of the employee's actual duties. Andrews v. Les Bois Masonry Inc., 127 Idaho 65, 67, 896 P.2d 973, 975 (1995). In this case, however, those very facts were part of the total circumstances which formed the basis for the Commission's determination that Cheung was a traveling employee. Because Cheung was directed to transition out of the Minidoka project into the AMI project, the Commission determined that traveling between the two locations was a necessary part of her engineering duties and she was compensated an additional $100 per week in consideration of the travel requirements added to her job as of May 9, 1997. The Commission also found that Cheung was requested on occasion to transport small pieces of equipment and supplies between the two project locations. It has been held that the payment of travel expenses, along with other evidence indicating that the employer intended to compensate the employee for travel will justify expanding the scope of employment to include going to and coming from work. Barker v. Fischbach & Moore, Inc., 105 Idaho 108, 666 P.2d 635 (1983). In its reconsideration decision, the Commission stated that its decision turned on a set of facts and a standard of reasonableness, as identified in Trapp v. Sagle Volunteer Fire Dep't, 122 Idaho 655, 837 P.2d 781 (1992). [1] The analysis derived from Trapp, however, is applicable to the special errand exception to the coming and going rule: Where an employee, although not at her regular place of business, even before or after customary work hours is doing some special service or errand or the discharge of some duty of or under the direction of her employer, an injury arising out en route to or from the place of performance of the work is considered arising out of and in the course of employment. Dameron v. Yellowstone Trail Garage, 54 Idaho 646, 34 P.2d 417 (1934) quoted in Trapp at n. 1, 122 Idaho at 655, 837 P.2d at 781. The Commission further stated, however, that it was not inclined to deny coverage simply because Claimant's travel between Rupert and Pocatello was interrupted by a night's stay. Any potential ambiguity as to whether the basis for the Commission's decision was the special errand exception or the traveling employee doctrine, however, was dispelled by the original decision of the Commission prior to the reconsideration motion, in which the Commission determined that the special errand exception was not applicable in this case. We find in the record substantial and competent evidence that Cheung was a traveling employee. It follows also that Cheung's injuries arose out of and in the course of her employment with Wasatch. Cheung worked at the Minidoka site for Wasatch Electric from the start of her employment until May 9, 1997, when she first went to Pocatello to begin her new responsibilities at the AMI site. Cheung's job description, until the Minidoka project was completed, encompassed engineering duties at both sites and required that she travel between the job sites, at her discretion. It could be said that Cheung's normal place of work was Minidoka, and the need to be present there and at the AMI site made Cheung a traveling employee. In addition, Cheung was paid $100 a week beginning with the week of May 9, 1997, for expenses and travel time in addition to her regular salary, coinciding with her expanded scope of employment that included job duties at the Minidoka site and at the AMI site. That she was transporting a wooden stool between the two sites was but incidental to her driving to and from the sites as necessary. Moreover, the Commission's conclusion not to view a night's stay at home as an interruption of travel between sites can reasonably be interpreted in the light most favorable to support the finding of the Commission that Cheung was a traveling employee. See Dinius v. Loving Care & More, Inc., 133 Idaho 572, 990 P.2d 738 (1999) (inferences and facts viewed in light most favorable to party who prevailed before the Commission). The Commission's determination will be upheld.