MARY JAEGER, Employee/Appellant,
v.
CFJJLDRENS HOSP. & CLINICS OF MINN., And BERKLEY RISK ADMR'S CO., INC., Employer-Insurer/Respondents,
No. WC20-6352
Minnesota Workers Compensation
Workers’ Compensation Court of Appeals
January 20, 2021
ARISFNG
OUT OF & IN THE COURSE OF - TRAVELING EMPLOYEE. As the
employee did not regularly travel for work and was not
traveling away from her regular employment locations at the
time of injury, the traveling employee doctrine did not apply
to afford workers' compensation coverage.
ARISFNG
OUT OF & FN THE COURSE OF - GOING TO AND FROM WORK.
Substantial evidence supported the compensation judge's
determination that the employee was not between work sites
when injured in an automobile accident and therefore the
exception to the commuting exclusion did not afford
workers' compensation coverage.
ARISFNG
OUT OF & FN THE COURSE OF - DUAL PURPOSE TRIP.
Substantial evidence supported the compensation judge's
determination that the employee was not engaged in a dual
purpose trip when injured in an automobile accident and
therefore was not in the course of her employment.
Aaron
W. Ferguson, Aaron Ferguson Law, Roseville, Minnesota, for
the Appellant.
Edward
Q. Cassidy Ashley A. Thronson, Fredrikson & Byron, PA.,
Minneapolis, Minnesota, for the Respondents.
Determined by: Sean M. Quinn, Judge Patricia J. Milun, Chief
Judge Gary M. Hall, Judge
Compensation Judge: Stacy P. Bouman
OPINION
SEAN
M. QUFNN, Judge
The
employee appeals the decision of a compensation judge that
her injury did not arise out of and in the course of her
employment. We affirm.
BACKGROUND
The
employee, Mary Jaeger, is a highly trained nurse with an
Advanced Practical Registered Nurse degree and a Doctorate in
Nursing Practices. She began working for the employer,
Children's Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota, in 2008.
In 2013, she began working for the employer's Skin
Integrity Team. The Skin Integrity Team's primary goal is
preventing skin injuries to hospital patients. Children's
Hospitals comprises two campuses, one in St. Paul and one in
Minneapolis. The employee primarily worked at the Saint Paul
campus. Occasionally, the employee would have to drive
between campuses and was paid mileage for those journeys.
The
employee's job on the Skin Integrity Team was full time,
five days a week. She was a salaried employee. Her day
typically began around 7:00 or 8:00 a.m. and ended around
4:30 p.m. However, the employee would often work past 4:30
p.m. and sometimes as late as 8:00 p.m. to complete her work.
Usually, the employee left the hospital after her charting
was completed. Occasionally, the employee would do her
charting at home, but this did not occur often. Typically,
the employee left the hospital campus after making final
rounds and checking with the other nursing professionals to
make sure that all of the patients' medical needs were
taken care of for the day.
As a
member of the Skin Integrity Team, the employee was "on
call" every third week. She testified that during their
regular working hours, every employee was essentially on call
for every patient, but after working hours and on weekends
the on-call team member would receive calls and pages and see
to it that patients' needs were attended to. However, it
was expected that any employee, as a salaried professional in
a very specialized care unit, would respond to an after-hours
call or page even if not formally on call.
The
employee's supervisor testified that although she was a
valued member of the Skin Integrity Team, the employee
sometimes had issues with completing charting in a timely
fashion. This was also documented in the employee's
performance reviews.
On
Friday, August 9, 2015, the employee had completed her rounds
and checked with the other nurses to make sure that all of
the patients' needs were satisfied. It was approximately
2:00 p.m. and she decided to leave for the day, saying that
she intended to complete her charting at home. As she was
walking to her car, she received a phone call from the
Minneapolis campus regarding a patient there. Although
another member of the Skin Integrity Team was already at the...
