An employer will not be required to pay death benefits for a Texarkana utility worker who was killed while carpooling with co-workers from a job site.
On Wednesday, three Arkansas Court of Appeals judges ruled that Tyler Waggoner's November 2013 death in Louisiana did not count as work on company time and dismissed the claim. The ruling reversed a state Workers' Compensation Commission finding that Waggoner's death occurred while he was performing work for the company.
The decision means that Waggoner's 4-year-old son will not be eligible to receive death benefits related to his deceased father.
"There is no substantial evidence that Waggoner was directly or indirectly advancing his employer's interest when he was fatally injured," Court of Appeals Judge Brandon Harrison wrote. "He was not performing a special work-related task when the accident occurred. ... His commute, however he chose to accomplish it (like carpooling), was not done within the course of employment. ... Waggoner was no longer advancing his employer's interests once he had finished work, clocked out and left his fixed place of employment to go home."
The ruling disheartened attorney Greg Giles, who represents Waggoner's estate. He said he would petition the Arkansas Supreme Court to consider the case.
"I am shocked by that decision," Giles said.
Waggoner worked for Wayne Holden & Co. Inc., where he was a crew leader who went around the area installing or repairing gas lines.
Though he lived in Texarkana, Waggoner worked primarily in Shreveport and carpooled there every morning to clock in at a work site in Louisiana before going out on assignments.
On the day of his death, Waggoner's workday ended early because of rain. He and his crew were on their way to Texarkana when their vehicle, in which Waggoner was a passenger, was struck by a distracted driver's vehicle in Caddo Parrish, La.
Waggoner, like other employees for Wayne Holden, had at one time relied on rides provided by the company. The workers were not paid during the transport.
Eventually that practice changed, and the company began paying each worker a per diem amount, typically $50 but sometimes more for farther travel, to be used as the workers wanted.
Instead of staying in motels, Waggoner and members of his crew typically carpooled home, each kicking in $10 or so for gas to that day's driver and pocketing the rest of the expense money.
A 2014 ruling by the Arkansas Workers' Compensation Commission upheld a finding by an administrative law judge who found that Waggoner was "performing employment services" at the time of the crash.
The law judge found that "daily travel is an inherent function" of the type of work done by the contractors.
The judge wrote that since the company paid the men for daily travel, that amounted to paid time and was part of daily business and thus, "at least indirectly benefiting" his employer.
On Wednesday, Harrison wrote that traveling to and from work, known as the "going and coming" rule, is typically not compensable.
The Arkansas Supreme Court has ruled that carpooling among colleagues, in and of itself, does not qualify as work time and is not compensable.
Harrison wrote that driving to and from work sites while on the clock is one thing, but since Waggoner and others regularly clocked in and out at a central location in Shreveport, they did not fall under the "traveling employee" exception.
Another exception, which Waggoner's attorney argued applied in the case of Waggoner and his crew, is the "compensated travel" exception.
Harrison wrote that the administrative law judge was wrong to find that there was evidence to support that the per diems paid by the company rose to the level of compensated travel.
"The undisputed testimony of every witness ... was that Holden employees were free to use, and in fact did use, the per diem money for anything they wanted -- like motels, meals and household bills," Harrison wrote. "They could choose to drive individually to work or carpool. No facts reasonably connect the $50 per diem to Waggoner's actual time or cost of commuting."
Business on 06/09/2016