A claimant who injures himself in the parking lot a few hours before his shift was to begin was in the course and scope of employment at the time of the injury.

The claimant’s shift did not begin until 8 AM, but he testified that he typically arrived at work early because of traffic. He testified that he parked in the employer’s parking lot at approximately 6:30 AM and went into the building to pick up his clean uniforms and take them back to his car. As he returned to the building, he slipped on ice and struck his head. He then went back into the building and reported the incident.

The claimant’s claim petition was granted, and the Appeal Board affirmed. On appeal to the Commonwealth Court, the employer argued that the claimant was not in the course and scope of his employment or furthering the employer’s interests or affairs when he arrived at the employer’s facility at an unreasonable time prior to his scheduled work shift.

The Commonwealth Court held that there was substantial evidence to support the Judge’s finding that the claimant’s arrival was somewhere between 6:30 and 7:30 AM. Although not an exact or precise time, the court concluded that the evidence did not establish that the claimant arrived at the employer’s premises an unreasonable amount of time before his shift began. There was no credible evidence to show the claimant abandoned his employment. The claimant collected uniforms, which were provided and cleaned as an employer-provided benefit, and then put them in his car. The court agreed that the evidence supported a finding that the claimant was furthering the employer’s interests and, therefore, was in the course and scope of employment.

Case Law Alerts, 4th Quarter, October 2014