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

Heading: Coverage Applied

Text: In State ex. rel . McDonnell v. Luten, 679 S.W.2d 278 (Mo. 1984), Luten, leaving work, was struck by a car in a crosswalk between the employer's premises and an employer-provided bus shelter. The employer had painted and maintained the crosswalk, illuminated it, and maintained the surface of the roadway. The employer also furnished the bus to be taken by Luten. Luten filed a negligence claim against the employer. The employer sought to have the case dismissed, arguing the claim was under the exclusive jurisdiction of workers compensation. The court agreed. [T]he only conclusion available ... was that the route over which plaintiff was travelling was expressly approved by [employer] as a means of access to its facility. In addition, it is clear that the hazard to which the plaintiff was exposed along this route was precisely the hazard which caused the injury, i.e., the risk of being struck by vehicular traffic. 679 S.W.2d at 280. In Montgomery v State Industrial Accident Com'n, 224 Or. 380, 356 P.2d 524 (1960), it was held that the crossing was a special risk and, therefore, the street became an extension of the employer's premises. [T]he source of danger was the vehicles which ran up and down the street the plaintiff was required to cross.... We do not believe that it would be reasonable to rule that although a railroad train is a source of hazard to those who must cross its tracks a motor truck, although it not infrequently runs in a squadron-like formation with other vehicles, is not a source of hazard. 224 Or. at 391-92. See also Goff v. Farmers Union Accounting Service, Inc., 308 Minn. 440, 241 N.W.2d 315 (1976) (injury compensable under workers compensation; street crossing between parking lot and employer's premises constituted a special hazard); Ingalls Shipbuilding v. Dependents of Sloane, 480 So.2d 1117, 1119 (Miss. 1985) (premises on each side of the access road owned by employer; no crosswalks mentioned; special hazard exception was applied; evidence not sufficient to show that claimant had a practical alternate route to avoid the inherent danger of heavy southbound traffic); Buechi v. Arcata Graphics, 97 App. Div.2d 579, 580, 468 N.Y.S.2d 65 (1983) (Compensation awarded to employee hit at entrance of parking lot. The parking lot entrance was a special hazard, as evidenced by the employer obtaining permission to install a traffic signal to control the heavy vehicular traffic.). In Swanson v. General Paint Company, 361 P.2d 842 (Okla. 1961), an employee was struck by a car and killed while walking across a public highway between the employer-furnished parking lot and the employer's premises. No crosswalk was mentioned. The State Industrial Court denied workers compensation benefits. The lower court in Swanson affirmed that denial, but the Supreme Court of Oklahoma reversed, stating: We think that the proper rule is that where the only route from one portion of an employer's premises used by the employee to the portion of employer's premises where the labor of [the] employee is performed necessitates the crossing of a highway which is a special hazard, that injury incurred on such highway crossing arises out of and in the course of employment. 361 P.2d at 845. Although it is difficult to draw firm conclusions from such a variety of holdings, a few generalizations can be made. The earlier cases held that a pedestrian's exposure to vehicle traffic in crossing a street was not a particular hazard. Verret, 166 So.2d 292; Maddox, 329 S.W.2d 189. However, as the Oregon Supreme Court noted in Montgomery, 224 Or. 380, motor vehicles moving in an unrestrained fashion present a hazard. If the employee was injured crossing the street either in a marked crosswalk or in the vicinity of a traffic signal or dangerous intersection sign, courts have applied the common-law special hazard exception to determine that workers compensation covered the injury. Luten, 679 S.W.2d 278; Montgomery, 224 Or. 380; Ingalls Shipbuilding, 480 So.2d 1117; Buechi, 97 App. Div.2d 579. If the employee was injured crossing a street with no crosswalk, one court awarded coverage ( Swanson ) and two did not ( Maddox; Verret ). In only one of the cases we have referenced did a court award compensation to an employee injured while jaywalking across the street when crosswalks were available. In Goff, the court had information that the employer acquiesced to employees jaywalking across the street directly in front of the building where they worked. Also, one crosswalk was 2 blocks away, and the other was 150 feet away. A tunnel was available, but it was 500 feet away. 308 Minn. at 441. We find no evidence in the record that Chapman was required, invited, or encouraged by Beech to cross Central using a crosswalk or other specified course. Our examination of the record supports the conclusion that Central Street is a heavily traveled major artery in Wichita. We agree with the Court of Appeals that Chapman's route to work involved a special risk or hazard under 44-508(f). Special Hazard Element In our view, vehicle traffic may constitute a special hazard, depending on the circumstances. The record indicated that Central Street is a busy public street in Wichita, the largest city in Kansas. The Board found: Central Street, in that vicinity, is a major city artery to several businesses in east Wichita. However, the Board determined that: [t]he route across Central [Street was not] a route involving a special risk or hazard. The ALJ determined that the route Chapman took did have a special risk or hazard. The Court of Appeals found that Chapman's route to work constituted a special risk or hazard. We agree. We hold that Chapman carried her statutory burden under K.S.A. 44-501(a) to show that crossing Central Street was a special risk or hazard. Only Available Route Chapman testified that there were three crosswalks in the vicinity of the Beech plant and that she could have used a crosswalk to cross Central. There is no evidence in the record either as to how far these crosswalks were from the path Chapman took across Central Street, or that any of the crosswalks were controlled by a traffic signal. Beech mentions Chadwell v. Clements, 18 Kan. App.2d 84, 847 P.2d 1344 (1993), a case Beech contends involved the same crosswalks at issue in the present case. Beech apparently requests that this court take judicial notice of the facts in Chadwell concerning the crosswalks and traffic signals. We decline to do so. The Chadwell facts do not establish the location or condition of the crosswalks or traffic signals at the time of Chapman's injury. Chapman's location when she was injured is not a key factor. During oral argument, counsel for Beech was asked, [W]ould there have been coverage had she [Chapman] been in the crosswalk or in the place where the stoplight was when she was hit by a vehicle? The following dialogue developed: [BEECH'S COUNSEL:] I don't believe so. [COURT:] So it doesn't make any difference whether she's in the crosswalk or [jaywalking], there's not coverage either way in your idea. [BEECH'S COUNSEL:] In my opinion, they have to show that there was a special hazard associated here. Something that presumably Beech had some control over. The Court of Appeals reasoned that because there was no showing that any of the crosswalks would have provided Chapman any safer route, the only available route must encompass any path generally in a southerly direction across Central Street to the Beech plant, without regard to use of the crosswalks. 20 Kan. App.2d at 969. We agree. Chapman had to cross Central at some point in order to travel from the parking lot to the plant where she worked. Route Not Used By Public The record indicated that Central Street is used by the public in general, including people going to Beech facilities or other places west or east of Beech. However, Chapman testified that the only people she observed crossing Central Street were other Beech employees using the parking lot or people needing to go to Beech. In addition, Chapman testified that Beech owned property on both the north and south sides of the street. Beech contends that because the public uses Central Street to reach Beech and destinations on either side of Beech, Chapman's route fails to meet the K.S.A. 44-508(f) criteria of being used only by Beech employees or others having dealings with Beech. The ALJ determined that Chapman's route was not used by the public only in dealing with [Beech]. The Board also made the same finding. The Court of Appeals determined that the relevant route was not along Central Street but across the street. The Court of Appeals' analysis on this issue seems to be the only one supported by the record. Chapman walked across Central, not along it, in going to work. The fact that Central Street carried traffic to other destinations seems irrelevant. The traffic presented the risk or hazard. There was nothing in the record to indicate that anyone other than Beech employees, or persons dealing with Beech, crossed Central Street at that point. Under the facts of this case, where the employee uses a company-owned parking lot on one side of a public street that is a heavily traveled major city artery and must walk across that street to reach the company's plant for work, and where the general public uses such route only in dealing with the employer, we hold that such employee is using a route that involves a special risk or hazard. Beech's K.S.A. 44-501(d)(1) Argument Beech asserts that Chapman should be denied coverage because of K.S.A. 44-501(d)(1), which provides: If the injury to the employee results from the employee's deliberate intention to cause such injury; or from the employee's willful failure to use a guard or protection against accident required pursuant to any statute and provided for the employee, or a reasonable and proper guard and protection voluntarily furnished the employee by the employer, any compensation in respect to that injury shall be disallowed. Beech suggests that by not using a crosswalk, Chapman chose not to use the provided safety devices. Beech raises this argument for the first time on appeal. A point not presented to the trial court will not be considered for the first time on appeal. Hephner v. Traders Ins. Co., 254 Kan. 226, 231, 864 P.2d 674 (1993). In addition, nothing in the record indicates that 44-501(d)(1) applies. The judgment of the Court of Appeals reversing the Board is affirmed. The order of the Board is reversed. That portion of the ALJ's decision finding Chapman's accident compensable and awarding compensation to her and against Beech is reinstated.