Court Opinion

ID: 9741861
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 21:03:10.317907+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:24:26.855411
License: Public Domain

JUSTICE GOLDENHERSH, dissenting: I respectfully dissent. The majority opinion focuses on the circumstances of claimant in the parking lot and her activities therein and also reviews the Commission’s factual decision concerning claimant’s credibility. The Commission also reviews her testimony as to how this accident occurred, contrasting it with the lack of such narration in the medical histories of Loyola and Dr. Brackett. In my view, the majority is incorrect in resolving both. The majority disposition reviews the parking lot exception and comes to the conclusion that claimant was not exposed to any greater risk of injury by parking in this particular lot than was any member of the general public who would be using the lot in order to procure the services of respondent hospital. This analysis is incorrect for the following reason. While it is disputed as to whether claimant received her injury from a fall caused by tripping in a crevice in the lot, which admittedly had crevices, or whether she got her injury from twisting to get out of a narrow parking space on that lot, this factual difference is not a controlling factor in disposition of her claim for adjustment. Claimant’s supervisor verified that this lot, lot No. 15, was the only parking lot in which security personnel were allowed to park. Claimant was required by Loyola to clock in a certain number of minutes before her shift started. The majority explains as part of the uncontested factual background that “claimant stated that, before she attempted to exit her vehicle, she picked up her uniform, belt and lunch from the right front seat.” 351 Ill. App. 3d at 800. Claimant, under the circumstances that are uncontested in this case and setting aside momentarily the dispute as to the exact physical causation of her injuries, was clearly performing duties mandated by her employer (the carrying of her uniform, belt and lunch, attempting to exit her vehicle to clock in at the appropriate time, and doing so in the only parking lot mandated by her employer, lot No. 15). In doing so, it is clear that this accident arose out of her employment since she was directed by employer to this lot and, therefore, she was at greater risk to the hazards of that lot than the general public, whether that hazard be crevices in the surface of the parking lot or narrow spaces for vehicles from which one must attempt to exit while carrying items mandated by employer to be used in discharging occupational duties. Knox County YMCA v. Industrial Comm’n, 311 Ill. App. 3d 880, 883, 885, 725 N.E.2d 759 (2000); Mores-Harvey v. Industrial Comm’n, 345 Ill. App. 3d 1034, 1036-37, 804 N.E.2d 1086 (2004). Another case somewhat on point is Homerding v. Industrial Comm’n, 327 Ill. App. 3d 1050, 765 N.E.2d 1064 (2002), in which the claimant parked in the area generally indicated by employer and realized she needed supplies still in her car in order to set up her work station as a nail technician. She slipped and fell on ice while returning to her work station, items in hand. The arbitrator concluded that the claimant had sustained an accident , arising out of and in the course of her employment since she was performing a task that was reasonably foreseeable and incidental to her employment, and the parking lot where she parked was the one mandated by her employer. The Commission reversed, noting that the employer did not own, maintain, or control the parking lot, and since the general public used that same lot, the claimant was not exposed to any risk greater than that of the general public. The dissent by Commissioner Kinnamon noted that since she was parked in the area designated by the employer and was carrying work tools, the arbitrator’s decision should be affirmed. The circuit court confirmed on the basis of the claimant failing to meet the arising out of standard. This court stated: “Claimant was required to park in the rear of employer’s' business on a lot employer financially contributed to maintain, and she needed certain supplies to perform her job. But for the demands of her job, she would not have needed to make a second trip to her car or negotiate the ice between her car and the salon door while carrying a large case. Her risk of injury accordingly was greater than that of the general public. [Citations.]” Homerding v. Industrial Comm’n, 327 Ill. App. 3d 1050, 1054 (2002). Justice Hoffman, in a special concurring opinion, noted as follows: “The Commission found that ‘whether or not *** [the claimant] was directed not to park in the front of the store is of no consequence.’ However, I find that fact to be central to a determination of whether the claimant’s injury arose out of her employment. The rear lot in which the claimant fell was available for use by members of the public and there is no doubt that, had a member of the public chosen to park in that lot, he or she would have been exposed to the same risk of falling to which the claimant was exposed. The critical difference is that the public was free to use the front lot and the claimant was not. By compelling the claimant to use the rear lot, her employer chose the route she would use to enter and leave the premises. The only practical way that the claimant could enter and leave was by the rear door which, on the day of her fall, exposed her to the hazards of the ice in the rear parking lot. Since the claimant was required to use the rear lot, she was exposed to a risk common to the general public to a greater degree than other persons who were free to use the front lot. It is for this reason that I believe that the uncontradicted evidence in the record supports only one reasonable conclusion; namely, that the claimant’s injury arose out of her employment. [Citation.]” Homerding v. Industrial Comm’n, 327 Ill. App. 3d 1050, 1057 (2002), (Hoffman, J., specially concurring, joined by O’Malley, J.). The instant case reflects those criteria noted by both the majority disposition and the special concurrence in Homerding. Claimant was parking and exiting her vehicle in the lot mandated by her employer. Claimant, at the time of exiting her vehicle, was carrying the items she was required to use in discharging her employment duties. Whether claimant’s injury was sustained by a fall precipitated by twisting to get out of her vehicle in a narrow parking space, or by catching her foot in a crevice on the surface of the parking lot, claimant was at a risk greater than that of the general public. The Commission’s basis for denying her claim rests on its determination of credibility as to the exact details of how the accident occurred, which are surplusage under these circumstances, and also based on the Commission ignoring the employer’s mandate that claimant use this particular parking lot. The decision of the Commission, accordingly, should be reversed and remanded with directions to reinstate the decision of the arbitrator. See Homerding, 327 Ill. App. 3d at 1055.