Court Opinion

ID: 9627361
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 08:42:39.413489+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:06:45.078835
License: Public Domain

Judge MARQUEZ
dissenting.
Because I conclude that the Industrial Claim Appeals Office (Panel) properly affirmed the determination by the Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) that the claimant was in a “travel status” at the time of his injury and that the claim was compensable, I respectfully dissent.
In determining whether an accident arose out of, or in the course of, the employment, each case must be decided with respect to its attendant circumstances. In the absence of special circumstances, harm or injury sustained by an employee while going to or from his work is not compensable. Berry’s Coffee Shop v. Palomba, 161 Colo. 369, 423 P.2d 2 (1967).
An exception to this rule is where an employee is in a travel status. This exception is applicable where-an employee is required to travel away from his. home city or town on his employer’s business. Tatum-Reese Development Corp. v. Industrial Commission, 30 Colo.App. 149, 490 P.2d 94 (1971); see Lind Engineering Co. v. Auxer, 519 P.2d 1211 (Colo.App.1974) (not selected for official publication).
If an employee’s travel is at the express or implied request of the employer, the travel is within the scope of the employment. Benson v. Colorado Compensation Authority, 870 P.2d 624 (Colo.App.1994).
Compensation by the employer for transportation, lodging, and meals is not required. Phillips Contracting, Inc. v. Hirst, 905 P.2d 9 (Colo.App.1995); see Benson v. Colorado Compensation Insurance Authority, supra; Tatum-Reese Development Corp. v. Industrial Commission, supra, (compensation awarded where claimant was required to re*486port to his employer’s office and then provide his own transportation to a mountain subdivision, even though he received no additional compensation for the use of his own vehicle).
An injury suffered by an employee while performing an act for the mutual benefit of the employee and the employer is usually compensable, even though the advantage to the employer is slight. The test is if the work of the employee creates a necessity for travel, the employee is in the course of employment, even though the employee is serving a personal purpose. Berry’s Coffee Shop, Inc. v. Palomba supra.
The question has been stated as whether it is the employment or something else that has sent the traveler forth upon the journey or brought exposure to its perils. Martin K. Eby Co. v. Industrial Commission, 151 Colo. 320, 377 P.2d 745 (1963) (compensation awarded to claimant who was provided travel pay and was injured while traveling in personal automobile to missile site).
In my view the four-part categorization applied by the majority does not account for the special circumstances in claimant’s situation here. See Berry’s Coffee Shop v. Palomba, supra. The ALJ found, with record support, that: claimant resides in Grand Junction, Colorado; the headquarters of the employer are located in Fruita, Colorado; and that at the time of the accident, he was en route from his home to a job site in Rifle. The employee agreement provided that under certain circumstances if the employee worked 75 miles or more from the point of hire, the employee may receive subsistence pay.
The ALJ further found that the job site in Rifle is approximately 71 miles from the main office in Fruita and approximately 10 miles less thamthat from the claimant’s home in Grand Junction. He was not getting paid subsistence at any time while working on the Rifle job; nor was he paid for his travel time. The ALJ found that the evidence, establishes that the employer required the employer to perform services at a substantial distance from his home and the employer’s place of business. Thus, the ALJ determined, the risks of travel, were the risks of employment.
As the Panel noted, the claimant’s testimony indicates that, during his three months of employment, he never worked in close proximity to his home, nor at the employer’s place of business in Fruita. Rather, the claimant traveled to remote job sites both in and out of Colorado.
Here, the claimant was required to travel a substantial distance to the job site. Had that location been another four miles from the employer’s office in Fruita, the claimant would have received subsistence pay. And, distance has been considered a relevant factor. See Loffland Bros. v. Baca, 651 P.2d 431 (Colo.App.1982) (employer required employees to travel a considerable distance to job and were transported by driller).
Under these special circumstances, I would affirm the Panel’s order.