Injury occurring in parking area adjacent to employer’s premises not compensable under “going and coming” rule.

After parking just outside the fence line surrounding the employer’s premises—a public right of way—the claimant slipped and fell on his way in to work. The claimant had not crossed the employer’s property line; therefore, he was not on the actual legal premises. Delaware follows the “going and coming” rule, which precludes receipt of workers’ compensation benefits for injuries sustained while traveling to and from the place of employment. The Board did a detailed analysis of parking lot cases, which are a common exception to the premises rule. “Premises” has been interpreted to include a parking lot if the employer exercises some element of control over the lot. The employer’s strict legal ownership of the property is not needed so long as the employer exercises sufficient control of the parking area. The Board found that the parking area was not the employer’s property, since it is the shoulder of a public roadway, and that the employer exercised no control over that parking area. The Board concluded that, at the time of his slip and fall, the claimant was still in the process of traveling to work and that, since he had not yet entered the employer’s premises, his claim was barred by the “going and coming” rule.

_{Case Law Alerts, 2^nd Quarter, April 2015}

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