WCL doesn't cover worker's injury while walking from lot to work site

In order to establish the compensability of an injury that occurs between a parking lot and work site, the claimant must prove: 1) that the employer controlled the parking area; and 2) that he took a reasonably direct route from the parking area to his work site.

Case name: Mularczyk v. Daimco Contracting Inc., 22 MIWCLR 238 (Mich. W.C.A.C. 2008).

Ruling: The Michigan Workers' Compensation Appellate Commission reversed the magistrate's decision granting an open award to an employee who tripped and fell on a buried fence while walking to a work site.

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What it means: In order to establish the compensability of an injury that occurs between a parking lot and work site, the claimant must prove: 1) that the employer controlled the parking area; and 2) that he took a reasonably direct route from the parking area to his work site.

Summary: The commission reversed the magistrate's decision granting an open award to an employee who tripped and fell on a buried fence while walking to a work site. Just before the accident, the employee had parked his vehicle and used a portable toilet. He testified that he parked one street over from the work site but offered no proof that the employer owned or controlled the street or the property where he fell or that he fell on the work site. Also, the employee offered no evidence that the employer owned the portable toilet or the land on which it was located. As a result, he did not establish that his injuries arose out of and in the course of his employment.

February 19, 2009

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