Rhode Island High Court Revisits Exception to Workers’ Comp ‘Going-and-Coming’ Rule

The Rhode Island Supreme Courtroom lately revisited the “going-and-coming” rule that typically excludes staff’ compensation advantages the place an injured employee is touring to or from work. The court docket has affirmed — and barely modified— an exception to that rule regarding parking tons that it first acknowledged 30 years in the past.

In its 1968 ruling in Branco v. Leviton Manufacturing Co., the court docket prolonged an exception to the “going-and-coming rule” in conditions the place the employer owns and maintains an worker parking space separate from its plant-facility grounds, the employer takes affirmative motion to regulate the route of the worker by directing the worker to park in that separate space, and the worker is injured whereas touring instantly from the lot to the plant facility

The so-called Branco exception has been utilized to permit or bar restoration in staff’ compensation instances involving an worker damage in a parking zone. The Branco case involved an worker who was injured whereas strolling from a parking zone to his workplace.

The present case, Phillips v. Enterprise Lease-A-Automobile Co., includes an worker strolling from work to the parking zone utilized by staff of Enterprise. Within the Might 6 ruling, the excessive court docket tweaked that exception to acknowledge that the parking zone needn’t be owned by the employer. Enterprise didn’t personal however as an alternative leased the worker parking zone at 110 Jefferson Boulevard in Warwick the place the plaintiff’s husband, Joseph Phillips, was headed on December 15, 2016 in crossing the road when he was struck and killed by a automotive. The lot is throughout the road from Enterprise’s places of work at 90 Jefferson Boulevard.

Phillips was employed as a driver for Enterprise. His spouse filed a petition within the Employees’ Compensation Courtroom for compensation advantages of a deceased worker. She sought weekly advantages, in addition to funeral bills.

In February 2017, a staff’ compensation decide denied her declare, counting on the “going-and-coming” rule and the truth that the parking zone was not owned by Enterprise.

A trial decide later disagreed and located that the partner’s declare was not barred by the going-and-coming rule. The trial decide dominated that the Branco exception utilized despite the fact that Enterprise leased moderately than owned the worker parking areas “since in both case the danger of crossing Jefferson Boulevard remained the identical.” The trial court docket ordered Enterprise to pay the plaintiff weekly indemnity advantages plus curiosity, funeral bills, and counsel charges and prices.

Enterprise appealed and the appellate division vacated that call, agreeing with Enterprise that the “going-and-coming” rule did bar the declare.

On additional enchantment, the state supreme court docket has now held that the “going-and-coming” rule doesn’t preclude the declare on this case and the exception applies. The court docket stated it issues little whether or not Enterprise owned or maintained the parking zone.

The court docket dominated that “in factual conditions akin to this case, the place the placement of the parking facility, a situation that’s unchangeable no matter its possession or upkeep, creates the danger of damage, a petitioner needn’t present employer possession or upkeep of the parking zone to recuperate beneath the Branco exception. As an alternative, to fulfill the primary Branco prong, a petitioner want solely present that the employer furnished a parking space for worker parking separate from its facility grounds.”

Subjects
Employees’ Compensation