PATRICIA A. BROWN
v.
KNC MANAGEMENT ENTERPRISES, INC.
W.C.C. No. 2013-00798
Rhode Island Worker Compensation
State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations Providence
November 25, 2019
FINAL
DECREE OF THE APPELLATE DIVISION
This
matter came on to be heard before the Appellate Division upon
the claim of appeal of the petitioner/employee and upon
consideration thereof, the employee's appeal is denied
and dismissed, and it is
ORDERED,
ADJUDGED, AND DECREED:
That
the findings and orders contained in a decree of this Court
entered on July 15, 2014 be, arid they hereby are, affirmed.
PER
ORDER:
Nicholas
DiFilippo, Administrator
DECISION OF THE APPELLATE DIVISION
OLSSON, J.
This
matter is before the Appellate Division on the employee's
claim of appeal from a decision and decree of the trial judge
denying the employee's original petition for compensation
benefits. The employee alleged that she sustained
work-related injuries to her neck, back, left arm, left
shoulder, and left hip on January 6,2013 when she slipped and
fell in a parking lot while leaving work after the end of her
shift. The issue before the trial judge was whether recovery
for the employee was precluded by the exclusionary
going-and-coming rule, or whether the specific circumstances
of this matter met one of the rule's narrow exceptions so
that the employee's injury would be compensable. After a
comprehensive review of the record in this matter, the
respective arguments of the parties, and the pertinent
statutory and case law, we deny the employee's appeal.
Patricia
Brown (the employee) testified that she had been employed as
a server at International House of Pancakes (IHOP/ the
employer), located at Pleasant Valley Parkway, Providence,
since 2009.[1] A Burger King restaurant was located
to the side of the IHOP building on the same parcel of land.
The employee worked the third shift twice a week, arriving to
work at midnight and leaving work between 4:00 and 6:00 in
the morning. On January 6, 2013, after clocking out of her
shift at 5:29 a.m., she left through the front door of the
IHOP restaurant and walked with a co-employee to her car in
the parking lot, which was adjacent to the IHOP building. She
walked the length of the building and then less than twenty
(20) feet to the right before she reached the location of her
vehicle. As the employee passed the front of her car, she
slipped and fell on snow and ice landing on her left forearm
and then her left side. Following her fall, she went back
into the IHOP building to fill out an incident report. After
filling out the report, she returned home to ice her left
shoulder. She went to Kent Hospital later that morning and
was treated for her injuries.[2]
The
employee described the IHOP restaurant as having a front
door, two side doors, and a back door. She testified that a
couple months prior to the incident, the employees were told
by management that they could only use the front door to
enter and exit the building. The employee stated that IHOP
employees were permitted to park anywhere in the lot which
surrounded the IHOP and the Burger King as there were no
designated spaces or areas specifically for employees.
Rochelle
Gallagher, the night manager at IHOP, explained that the
employees could exit the building by using the front door or
a side door, but that the management preferred that they use
the front door. The employees could not use the door on the
other side of the building or the back door because they were
designated as emergency exits only and are alarmed. Ms.
Gallagher testified that IHOP's employees were allowed to
park anywhere in the parking lot that surrounded the IHOP
building. She also stated that the parking lot is shared with
the Burger King restaurant next door. It was her
understanding that the parking lot was owned by a third
company, Jan Co.
Greg
Galino, the real estate manager at Jan Companies ("Jan
Co."). testified under a subpoena issued by the
employee. He explained that Jan Co. Central owned the
buildings that contained both the IHOP and the Burger King
restaurants. The Jan Co. Central entity also owned the entire
parking lot that surrounded the restaurants. The business
entity which operated the IHOP restaurant leased the building
from Jan Co. Central. See Ee's Ex. 3. Pursuant
to the terms of the lease agreement, all areas of the parcel,
but for the buildings, were designated as common areas.
See Ee's Ex. 3, Lease Agreement, Article 1,
Section 1.04 at *2. Mr, Galino stated that Jan Co. Central
had a contract with the Baxter Trucking Company for snow
removal in the parking lot. Baxter Trucking Company would
automatically remove the snow from the parking lot once the
snow reached a certain amount. Jan Co. Central would pay
Baxter Trucking Company directly for the snow removal and
then Jan Co. Central would bill IHOP for their pro-rata share
(45.2%) of the snow removal expenses as specified in the
lease agreement. See Ee's Ex. 3, Lease
Agreement, Article 2. The snow removal expenses, as well as
other maintenance expenses and taxes, were charged to IHOP in
addition to the annual lease amount owed to Jan Co. Central.
After
reviewing the evidence, the trial judge concluded that the
employee's injury was not compensable due to the
going-and-coming rule which precludes recovery when an
employee's injury occurs while traveling to or from the
workplace. In arriving at this determination, the trial judge
considered the fact that the employee had punched out after
finishing her work shift, the fact that the employer did not
own or maintain the parking lot, and the fact that the
employer did not control the employee's route to her
vehicle. He determined that the employee's claim did not
meet any of the recognized exceptions to the rule that bars
recovery. In making this analysis, the trial judge found the
facts in this matter to be significantly different from the
circumstances presented in cases where...
