US Airways, Inc. and Sedgwick Claims Management Services, Inc. V. WCAB (Bockelman); 612 C.D. 2017; filed Feb. 22, 2018; by Judge Brobson

Injury on airport shuttle bus while being driven to employee parking lot is compensable.

In its appeal to the Commonwealth Court, the employer argued that the injury did not occur on its premises. A flight attendant was injured on a shuttle bus for airport employees she was using for transport to the employee parking lot. Because the employer did not own, lease, or control the shuttle bus and parking lot, they were not integral to the employer’s business. Additionally, the employer argued that the claimant was never required to use the shuttle bus.

The Commonwealth Court rejected the employer’s arguments and affirmed the decisions of the Workers’ Compensation Judge and Workers’ Compensation Appeal Board. The court concluded that, although the employer did not own or exercise control over the parking and shuttle services, the claimant used the shuttle bus as a customary means of ingress and egress, which the employer understood was part of doing airport business. The court found that the shuttle bus was such an integral part of the employer’s business that it was part of the employer’s premises. Additionally, the court held that the claimant’s presence on the bus was necessary and required by the nature of her employment because it was the means by which she traversed between her work station and the parking lot for airport employees. The absence of a directive by the employer instructing the claimant to utilize the shuttle bus was not a factor in the court’s analysis.

 

Case Law Alerts, 3rd Quarter, July 2018

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