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Full Opinion
This opinion is subject to revision before final
publication in the Pacific Reporter
2019 UT 55
IN THE
SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF UTAH
INTERCONTINENTAL HOTELS GROUP
and AMERICAN ZURICH INS. CO.,
Petitioners,
v.
UTAH LABOR COMMISSION
and JESSICA WILSON,
Respondents.
No. 20170501
Filed September 4, 2019
On Certification from the Court of Appeals
Attorneys:
Bret A. Gardner, Kristy L. Bertelsen, Scott R. Taylor, Salt Lake City,
for petitioners
Christopher C. Hill, Salt Lake City, for respondent
Utah Labor Commission
Gary E. Atkin, Kenneth E. Atkin, Salt Lake City,
for respondent Jessica Wilson
CHIEF JUSTICE DURRANT authored the opinion of the Court, in which
ASSOCIATE CHIEF JUSTICE LEE, JUSTICE HIMONAS, JUSTICE PEARCE, and
JUSTICE PETERSEN joined.
CHIEF JUSTICE DURRANT, opinion of the Court:
Introduction
¶1 Jessica Wilson was injured after she tripped and fell in a
parking lot while walking into work. To pay for her injuries,
Ms. Wilson requested workersâ compensation benefits from her
employer, Intercontinental Hotels Group (IHG), which IHG denied.
Ms. Wilson appealed this denial to the Utah Labor Commission, and
the Labor Commission ordered IHG to award benefits. IHG now
asks us to overturn the Labor Commissionâs decision. Because the
Labor Commission did not err in concluding that Ms. Wilsonâs
IHG v. LABOR COMMâN
Opinion of the Court
injuries arose out of, and in the course of, her employment with IHG,
we decline to do so.
Background
¶2 Ms. Wilson tripped and fell in a parking lot next to IHGâs
office building while on her way to work. Although IHG does not
own the parking lot in which Ms. Wilson fell, it does have a
ânonexclusive rightâ to use the entire parking lot, as well as
âexclusive parking rightsâ to certain spaces in the lot.1 At the time of
the fall, the parking lot was free of any obvious tripping hazards,
such as ice, cracks, or other defects.
¶3 As a result of the fall, Ms. Wilson injured her right footâan
injury that necessitated two surgeries and the amputation of her
right third toe. To cover her medical costs, and to receive temporary
disability compensation, Ms. Wilson filed a workersâ compensation
claim. But American Zurich Insurance Co., IHGâs workersâ
compensation provider, denied Ms. Wilsonâs claim because it
believed that, under the going-and-coming rule, her accident did not
arise out of and in the course of her employmentâa prerequisite to
workersâ compensation coverage under Utah law. Ms. Wilson
challenged this denial by filing a claim with the Labor Commission.
¶4 An administrative law judge with the Labor Commission
reviewed Ms. Wilsonâs claim and, after holding an evidentiary
hearing, concluded that Ms. Wilson was entitled to workersâ
compensation benefits. The judge found that Ms. Wilson had
âslipped and f[allen] in the parking area her employer directed her
to use.â As a result, the judge concluded that she was entitled to
compensation under what courts often refer to as the premises rule.
IHG appealed this decision to the Labor Commissionâs appeals
board.
¶5 The Labor Commission affirmed the administrative law
judgeâs ruling. In so doing, it found that âthe communal parking
area where the accident occurred [was] . . . part of IHGâs premises
for purposes of determining compensability under the Utah
Workersâ Compensation Act.â For this reason, it held that
Ms. Wilsonâs injury was ânot precluded from compensability under
the going and coming rule and the accident [wa]s considered to have
_____________________________________________________________
1In exchange for these parking rights, IHG pays the landlordâs
parking-lot-maintenance costs.
2
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Opinion of the Court
arisen out of and in the course of her employment.â In accordance
with Utah Code section 63G-4-401, IHG petitioned the Utah Court of
Appeals to review the entirety of the Labor Commissionâs order. The
court of appeals subsequently certified the case to this court. We
have jurisdiction pursuant to Utah Code section 78A-3-102(3)(b).
Standard of Review
¶6 IHG asks us to reconsider the Labor Commissionâs order
affirming the award of workersâ compensation benefits to
Ms. Wilson. âWhether the [Labor] [C]ommission correctly or
incorrectly denied benefits is âa traditional mixed question of law
and fact.ââ2 And the âstandard of review we apply when reviewing a
mixed question can be either deferential or non-deferential.â3
âDeference on a mixed question is warranted when the mixed
finding is not law-like because it does not lend itself to consistent
resolution by a uniform body of appellate precedent or is fact-like
because the [factfinder] is in a superior position to decide it.â4 In this
case, we must review two Labor Commission determinations: one
determination that is law-likeâwhether certain âgoing and comingâ
exception factors we identified in a previous case applied to
accidents on an employerâs premisesâand another that is fact-likeâ
whether the accident in this case occurred on the employerâs
premises. Accordingly, we review the first determination without
deference, and the second determination with deference.
Analysis
¶7 IHG argues that the Labor Commission erred when it
determined that Ms. Wilson was entitled to workersâ compensation
benefits under Utah Code section 34A-2-401 (workersâ compensation
statute). This statute entitles an employee to workersâ compensation
benefits if the employee âis injured . . . by accident arising out of and
in the course of the employeeâs employment.â5 The workersâ
compensation statute includes two requirements that are relevant to
this case: the accident must (1) arise out of Ms. Wilsonâs employment
with IHG, and (2) occur in the course of her employment with IHG.
IHG argues that the accident did not arise out of Ms. Wilsonâs
_____________________________________________________________
2 Jex v. Utah Labor Commân, 2013 UT 40, ¶ 15, 306 P.3d 799.
3 Id. (internal quotation marks omitted).
4 Id. (alteration in original) (internal quotation marks omitted).
5 UTAH CODE § 34A-2-401(1) (emphases added).
3
IHG v. LABOR COMMâN
Opinion of the Court
employment, because her injury did not stem from an
employment-related risk. And it argues that the accident did not
occur in the course of employment, because Ms. Wilson was
traveling to work at the time.6 We disagree on both counts.
I. Ms. Wilsonâs Accident Arose Out of Her Employment With IHG
¶8 The first piece of the workersâ compensation statute at issue
is the meaning of the phrase âarising out ofâ employment.
Ms. Wilson was injured when she tripped and fell in a parking lot
next to IHGâs office building while on her way to work. At the time
of the fall, the parking lot was free of any obvious tripping hazards,
such as ice, cracks, or other defects. IHG argues that the workersâ
compensation statute does not cover the unexplained fall in this case,
because the âarising out ofâ element introduces a causation element
into the workersâ compensation statute. And IHG argues that this
causation element limits compensation to only those injuries
sustained as a result of exposure to risk âto which the general public
is not exposed.â Although we agree that the phrase âarising out ofâ
introduces a causation element into the analysis, we hold that, in the
workersâ compensation context, the causation element is broad
enough to encompass the unexplained fall in this case.
A. The phrase âarising out ofâ introduces an element of causation into the
workersâ compensation analysis
¶9 The âarising out ofâ requirement in the workersâ
compensation statute requires that an accident be caused, in some
sense, by an employeeâs employment. In Bountiful Brick Co. v. Giles,
the United States Supreme Court stated that liability for an
employeeâs injury âwas constitutionally imposed under the Utah
Compensation Law if there was a causal connection between the
injury and the employment.â7 And in Utah Apex Mining Co. v.
_____________________________________________________________
6 IHG argues that Ms. Wilsonâs travel-related accident is not
compensable under what courts often refer to as the
going-and-coming rule. Under the going-and-coming rule, where an
employee is injured while traveling to or from the employerâs
premises, the employee is not entitled to workersâ compensation. See
infra ¶ 27. But, as we explain in section II of this opinion, the
going-andâcoming rule does not apply in this case, because
Ms. Wilsonâs accident occurred on IHGâs premises.
7 276 U.S. 154, 158 (1928) (emphasis added).
4
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Opinion of the Court
Industrial Commission of Utah,8 one of our earliest workersâ
compensation cases, we explained that the âarising out ofâ phrase
ârefer[s] to the origin or cause of the injury.â Subsequent cases have
also interpreted the âarising out ofâ language as introducing a
causation element into the statute.9 So, under our case law, the
phrase âarising out ofâ introduces a causation requirement into the
workersâ compensation analysis. We further clarified the nature of
this causation requirement in Allen v. Industrial Commission.10
¶10 In Allen, we explained that the workersâ compensation
statute contained a causation requirement that made it necessary to
distinguish those injuries that âcoincidentally occur at work because
a preexisting condition results in symptoms which appear during
work hours without any enhancement from the workplace,â from
those injuries which occur because of some condition or exertion
required by the employment.11 After recognizing this causation
requirement, we adopted Professor Larsonâs âtwo-part causation
test.â12 The two parts of this test are (1) legal causation and
(2) medical causation. We explained that under âthe legal test, the
law must define what kind of exertion satisfies the test of âarising out
of the employment.ââ13 And under the medical causation test, âthe
doctors must say whether the exertion (having been held legally
sufficient to support compensation) in fact caused this [injury].â14
Thus, Allen established that injuries legally and medically caused by
a work accident satisfy the âarising out ofâ element of the workersâ
_____________________________________________________________
8 248 P. 490, 493 (Utah 1926) (internal quotation marks omitted).
9 See, e.g., M & K Corp. v. Indus. Commân, 189 P.2d 132, 134 (Utah
1948) (âThe distinction being that in order for an accident to arise out
of the employment a more definite and closer causal relationship is
required than is necessary for an accident to arise in the course of the
employment but in the latter a closer relationship must exist as to
time and place and as to the nature and type of work being
performed.â).
10 729 P.2d 15 (Utah 1986).
11 Id. at 25.
12 Id. (citing LARSON, THE LAW OF WORKMENâS COMPENSATION
§ 38.83 (1986)).
13 Id.
14 Id. (alteration in original) (internal quotation marks omitted).
5
IHG v. LABOR COMMâN
Opinion of the Court
compensation statute.15 Accordingly, we agree with IHG that the
phrase âarising out ofâ introduces a causation requirement into the
workersâ compensation statute.
B. Ms. Wilsonâs accident satisfies the causation requirement
¶11 Although IHG correctly states that the phrase âarising out
ofâ requires a causal connection between an employeeâs injury and
employment, we reject IHGâs argument that this element limits
workersâ compensation to only those injuries sustained as a result of
exposure to risk âto which the general public is not exposed.â IHG
argues that the workersâ compensation statute provides benefits only
for those injuries that occur because the employeeâs employment
creates âan increased risk of injuryâ due to the nature of the
employeeâs work responsibilities. According to IHG, this more
restrictive view of causation would seemingly include only such
risks as âfalling objects, explosives, fingers getting caught in a
machine, or a very heavy lift of an objectââin short, only those risks
inherent in employment in heavy industry. But we reject this
argument because it is inconsistent with our case law.
¶12 Our previous cases have made clear that in applying the
legal causation component of Allenâs two-part causation test, we
need not determine whether the nature of an employeeâs work
responsibilities created an increased risk to which the general public
was not exposed. Instead, we need only determine whether the
employeeâs employment can be considered âa condition out of which
the event arises.â16
¶13 Significantly, this does not require an injured employee to
prove that a condition of the employment produced âthe event in
affirmative fashion.â17 Rather, an accident is legally caused by
employment if it occurs âas a natural consequenceâ of the
employeeâs employment.18 So when the requirements of the workersâ
_____________________________________________________________
15We note that IHG does not dispute that the medical causation
requirement of the Allen test has been met, so only the legal
causation requirement is at issue in this case.
16Buczynski v. Indus. Commân of Utah, 934 P.2d 1169, 1172 (Utah
Ct. App. 1997) (emphasis omitted) (internal quotation marks
omitted).
17 Id. (internal quotation marks omitted).
18 82 AM. JUR. 2D Workersâ Compensation § 225 (2019).
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Opinion of the Court
compensation statute are triggered, the employer is obligated to
provide benefits âregardless of who was at fault in causing [the
accident].â19 The unexplained fall in this case meets that
requirement.
¶14 Where âan employee falls while walking down the sidewalk
or across a level factory floor for no discoverable reason,â the
causation requirement is satisfied because the âparticular injury
would not have happened if the employee had not been engaged
upon an employment errand at the time.â20 In other words, in
unexplained falls at work, employment constitutes a condition out of
which the accident arises because that particular accident would not
have happened where and when it did if employment obligations
had not required the employee to be walking where he or she was
walking at the time of the accident. Although this concept of
causation would be insufficient to sustain a finding of tort liability,
âmost courts confronted with the unexplained-fall problem have
seen fit to award compensationâ in the workersâ compensation
context.21 Our case law is consistent with this rule.
¶15 In Bountiful Brick, the Supreme Court explicitly held that
there âwas a causal connectionâ between an employeeâs employment
and an injury the employee suffered while walking.22 The Court
explained that âemployment includes not only the actual doing of
the work, but a reasonable margin of time and space necessary to be
used in passing to and from the place where the work is to be
done.â23 And if âthe employee [is] injured while passingâ to or from
the place where work is to be done âthe injury is one arising out of
and in the course of the employment.â24 So Bountiful Brick suggests
that where an employee suffers an injury during travel to a work
site, the employeeâs obligation to travel to the work site sufficiently
_____________________________________________________________
19 Spencer v. Indus. Commân, 290 P.2d 692, 693 (Utah 1955).
20 LARSON, THE LAW OF WORKMENâS COMPENSATION § 7.04(1)(a)
(2018).
21 Id.
22 276 U.S. at 158.
23 Id.
24 Id.
7
IHG v. LABOR COMMâN
Opinion of the Court
connects the injury to the employment, thus satisfying the causation
requirement.25
¶16 And this reasoning accords with a number of other Utah
cases in which we, or the court of appeals, awarded workersâ
compensation benefits despite the accidents at issue having stemmed
from risks to which the general public is equally exposed. For
example, Utah courts have awarded compensation for injuries
sustained in car accidents,26 while shoveling snow,27 while walking
in a parking lot,28 and while walking on ice on a public street.29 In
each of these cases, employment did not increase the risk of injury
beyond that to which a member of the public would have been
exposed. Nevertheless, in each case, we, or the court of appeals,
found the injury compensable because it occurred while the
employee engaged in an activity connected to the employeeâs work
responsibilities.30 Accordingly, we reject IHGâs risk-based argument,
and apply the legal causation test identified in our case law.31
_____________________________________________________________
25 See, e.g., Park Utah Consol. Mines Co. v. Indus. Commân, 133 P.2d
314, 317 (Utah 1943) (awarding benefits stemming from a
slip-and-fall on ice in front of an employerâs entrance even though it
did not find that the employer had a duty to keep the area free from
snow and ice); Ae Clevite, Inc. v. Labor Commân, 2000 UT App 35,
¶¶ 12â13, 996 P.2d 1072 (determining that a slip-and-fall accident on
an employeeâs driveway was âconnectedâ to that employeeâs
employment because the employee worked from home and fell
while shoveling snow from his driveway so that a work-related
package could be delivered to his doorstep).
26 Salt Lake City Corp. v. Labor Commân, 2007 UT 4, ¶ 4, 153 P.3d
179.
27 Ae Clevite, Inc., 2000 UT App 35, ¶¶ 11â14.
28 Hope v. Berrett, 756 P.2d 102, 102â04 (Utah Ct. App. 1988).
29 Park Utah Consol. Mines Co., 133 P.2d at 317.
30 We emphasize that in this section we are discussing only the
âarising out ofâ requirement in the statute. To be compensable under
the workersâ compensation statute, the accident must also satisfy the
âin the course ofâ requirementâa requirement we discuss in
Section II of this opinion.
We also note that IHGâs risk-based argument seems to be based
31
on a formulation of workersâ compensation liability that we
(Continued)
8
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Opinion of the Court
¶17 In this case, Ms. Wilsonâs unexplained fall satisfies the
causation requirement described in our case law. Ms. Wilsonâs
accident occurred while she walked into work. And even though
Ms. Wilson could just as easily have slipped while walking to the
mall or through the park, Ms. Wilsonâs âparticular injury would not
have happenedâ where and when it did but for her obligation to
appear at IHGâs offices on the morning of the accident.32
Accordingly, Ms. Wilsonâs employment was âa conditionâ out of
which her accident arose.33
¶18 In sum, we hold that an injury arises out of employment if
the employment was a condition out of which the accident occurred.
More specifically, we hold that a slip-and-fall accident arises out of
employment where the employee slips and falls in a place, and at a
time, in which the employee would not otherwise have been but for
the employeeâs employment obligations. Because Ms. Wilson slipped
and fell in a parking lot on her way to workâa place she would not
have been were she not obligated to report to work on the day of the
accidentâwe hold that her accident arose out of her employment.
disavowed in Salt Lake City Corp., 2007 UT 4, ¶ 20. In that case, we
quoted an oft-cited justification for the going-and-coming rule: that
injuries âsuffered as a consequence of the risks and hazards to which
all members of the traveling public are subjectâ are not compensable.
Id. ¶ 19. But then we explained that this âformulation of the going
and coming rule is poorly equipped to handle the task of evaluating
the relationship between an employer and an employee at the time
an injury occurs.â Id. ¶ 20. Additionally, even if we had not
disregarded this risk-based formulation of the workersâ
compensation statute, it would not apply to the question of whether
an accident arose out of employment because it was a concept
specifically tied to the going-and-coming rule, a rule used to
determine whether an accident occurred âin the course ofâ
employment. See infra ¶ 23 (explaining that the going-and-coming
rule is a judicially created principle that guides courts in determining
whether an accident occurred in the course of employment).
32 LARSON, THE LAW OF WORKMENâS COMPENSATION § 7.04(1)(a)
(2018).
33 Buczynski, 934 P.2d at 1172 (emphasis omitted) (internal
quotation marks omitted).
9
IHG v. LABOR COMMâN
Opinion of the Court
II. Ms. Wilsonâs Accident Also Occurred in the Course of Her
Employment Because it Occurred on IHGâs Premises
¶19 In addition to the âarising out ofâ requirement, the workersâ
compensation statute also requires an accident to have occurred âin
the course ofâ employment. The Labor Commission, citing what
courts commonly refer to as the premises rule or premises exception,
found that Ms. Wilsonâs accident occurred in the course of her
employment. IHG argues this was error. It does so in two ways.
¶20 First, IHG argues that the premises rule is an exception to
what we refer to as the going-and-coming rule, and that, after our
decision in Jex v. Utah Labor Commission,34 the Labor Commission
was required to consider two factorsâbenefit and controlâbefore
applying it in this case.35 But IHG errs in assuming the
going-and-coming rule is relevant in cases involving accidents on an
employerâs premises. It is not. The going-and-coming rule applies
only in cases in which an employee is injured off of an employerâs
premises. And because the purpose of the Jex factors is to help courts
determine whether an exception to the going-and-coming rule
should be made, the Jex factors apply only in cases in which an
employee is injured off of an employerâs premises. In this case, the
Labor Commission found that the accident occurred on IHGâs
premises. Accordingly, we conclude the Labor Commission did not
err in determining that the going-and-coming rule does not bar
compensation. And in so concluding, we clarify the nature of the
going-and-coming rule and what is often referred to as the premises
exception to it.
¶21 Second, IHG argues that, even were the Labor Commission
not required to consider the Jex factors, it nevertheless erred in
determining that Ms. Wilsonâs accident occurred on IHGâs premises.
We disagree. Because the Labor Commission did not err in finding
that IHGâs premises included the parking lot in which Ms. Wilson
fell, we also affirm the Labor Commissionâs finding on this point.
_____________________________________________________________
34 2013 UT 40, 306 P.3d 799.
35 Under the going-and-coming rule, where an employee is
injured while traveling to or from the employerâs premises, the
employee is not entitled to workersâ compensation. See infra ¶ 27.
Our decision in Jex clarified where exceptions to this rule, which
would allow recovery for injuries suffered off of an employerâs
premises, may be applied. See infra ¶ 33.
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Opinion of the Court
A. Under the going-and-coming rule, accidents that occur while traveling
on an employerâs premises occur âin the course of employmentâ
¶22 First, IHG argues that the Labor Commission erred in
applying the premises rule as a bright-line rule instead of
considering the benefit and control factors that we identified in our
Jex case. But this argument rests on the mistaken assumption that the
going-and-coming rule applies to cases involving accidents that
occur on an employerâs premises. This mistake is understandable in
light of cases that have discussed the premises rule as if it were a
distinct exception to the going-and-coming rule.36 But a closer look at
the origins of the going-and-coming rule makes clear that the rule is
inapplicable in cases involving accidents on an employerâs premises.
And it also makes clear that what courts sometimes refer to as the
premises rule, or premises exception, is nothing more than a
shorthand description of a circumstance in which the
going-and-coming rule does not apply.
¶23 The going-and-coming rule is a âjudicially adopted
principleâ that guides courts in determining whether an accident an
employee suffers while traveling between home and work occurred
in the course of the employeeâs employment.37 An accident occurs in
the course of employment if it occurs in âthe time, place, and
circumstancesâ typical of the employeeâs employment.38 For
example, in Black v. McDonaldâs of Layton,39 we explained that to âbe
embraced within the ambit of âcourse of employment,â the injury
must be received while the employee is carrying on the work which
he is called upon to perform or doing some act incidental thereto.â
¶24 So, to occur âin the course ofâ employment, an accident
âmust occur within the period of employment, at a place or area
where the employee may reasonably be, and while the employee is
_____________________________________________________________
36See, e.g., Soldier Creek Coal Co. v. Bailey, 709 P.2d 1165, 1166
(Utah 1985) (discussing the âpremises ruleâ as an âexceptionâ to the
âgoing-to-and-from-work ruleâ).
37 Jex, 2013 UT 40, ¶ 18 (citing Bailey v. Indus. Commân, 398 P.2d
545, 546 (Utah 1965)).
38 E.g., M & K Corp. v. Indus. Commân, 189 P.2d 132, 134 (Utah
1948).
39 733 P.2d 154, 156 (Utah 1987).
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IHG v. LABOR COMMâN
Opinion of the Court
engaged in an activity at least incidental to his employment.â40 This
language clearly includes employees who are injured while actively
engaged in the work they are assigned to do during a time, and in
the place, in which they are assigned to do it. But the language
applies less clearly to accidents employees suffer while traveling to
or from their work.
¶25 Professor Larson discusses the difficulty presented when an
accident occurs while an employee travels between home and work:
The course of employment is not confined to the actual
manipulation of the tools of the work, nor to the exact
hours of work. On the other hand, while admittedly
the employment is the cause of the workerâs journey
between home and factory, it is generally taken for
granted that workersâ compensation was not intended
to protect against all the perils of that journey.41
In other words, Professor Larson has identified an inherent tension
between the aim of awarding compensation for employment-caused
accidents and the reluctance of courts to interpret workersâ
compensation statutes to encompass all accidents occurring along
the entire journey between an employeeâs home and an employeeâs
designated work site.
¶26 To resolve this tension, Professor Larson explains that
almost every jurisdiction has adopted the following rule: âfor an
employee having fixed hours and place of work, going to and from
work is covered only on the employerâs premises.â42 In other words,
courts have resolved this tension by adopting a compromise in
which injuries suffered during the employeeâs travel between home
and an employerâs premises are not compensable, but injuries
suffered on the employerâs premises are.43
_____________________________________________________________
40 Id. An activity is incidental to employment if it advances,
directly or indirectly, an employerâs interests. Id.
41 LARSON, THE LAW OF WORKMENâS COMPENSATION § 13.01(1)
(2018).
42 Id. (footnotes omitted).
43See id. (explaining that the going-and-coming rule and premises
rule are opposing sides of a single âcompromiseâ between
competing workersâ compensation policies).
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Opinion of the Court
¶27 So, under this rule, when an employee suffers an injury
while traveling to or from work, the operative question becomes
whether the accident occurred on the employerâs premises. If the
accident occurred on the employerâs premises, the rule does not
apply; but if it occurred off of an employerâs premises, the rule
applies and will bar compensation (unless a recognized exception to
the rule applies). We have adopted this rule, and most commonly
refer to it as the going-and-coming rule.44
¶28 Our decision in North Point Consolidated Irrigation Co. v.
Industrial Commission of Utah45 represents one of the earliest instances
in which we recognized the going-and-coming rule. In that case, we
cited case law from a number of jurisdictions in support of the
following rule: an âinjury incurred by a workman in the course of his
travel to his place of work, and not on the premises of the employer,
does not give right to participation in [a workersâ compensation]
fund.â46
¶29 The rule was again acknowledged in Bountiful Brick Co. v.
Giles.47 In that case, the United States Supreme Court reviewed and
upheld our decision to affirm an award of workersâ compensation
for an employee killed by a train while crossing train tracks adjacent
to his work site. In upholding our decision, the Court explained that
âemployment includes not only the actual doing of the work, but a
reasonable margin of time and space necessary to be used in passing
to and from the place where the work is to be done.â48 For this
_____________________________________________________________
44 See, e.g., Salt Lake City Corp. v. Labor Commân, 2007 UT 4, ¶ 1, 153
P.3d 179 (âThe law uses the âgoing and comingâ rule to determine
when a person acquires and abandons her status as an employee at
the beginning and end of the workday.â); see also Jex, 2013 UT 40,
¶ 18 (explaining that under the going-and-coming rule, âaccidents
occurring to the employee while going to and from work are
generally not compensable because they are outside the course of
employmentâ (internal quotation marks omitted)); Soldier Creek Coal
Co., 709 P.2d at 1166 (âTravel to and from work is not generally
considered to be âin the course of . . . employment.ââ (alteration in
original)).
45 214 P. 22 (Utah 1923).
46 Id. at 24 (emphasis added) (internal quotation marks omitted).
47 276 U.S. 154 (1928).
48 Id. at 158.
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Opinion of the Court
reason, the Court stated that if âthe employee [is] injured while
passing, with the express or implied consent of the employer, to or
from his work by a way over the employerâs premises, or over those
of another in such proximity and relation as to be in practical effect a
part of the employerâs premises, the injury is one arising out of and
in the course of the employment as much as though it had happened
while the employee was engaged in his work at the place of its
performance.â49
¶30 So the decision in Bountiful Brick established that, while
employees are on their employerâs premises, travel to or from their
designated work site is incidental to their employment. For this
reason, an injury that occurs while the employee travels to or from a
work site on an employerâs premises necessarily satisfies the âin the
course ofâ requirement as defined by our case law: it âoccur[s]
within the period of employment, at a place or area where the
employee may reasonably be, and while the employee is engaged in
an activity at least incidental to his employment.â50 Accordingly,
injuries suffered while employees travel to a work site on an
employerâs premises satisfy the âin the course ofâ employment
requirement.
¶31 Although our practice of awarding compensation for
accidents occurring on an employerâs premises is consistent with the
language of the workersâ compensation statute, Utah courts quickly
realized that applying the going-and-coming rule to bar
compensation in cases involving accidents that occurred off of an
employerâs premises did not always accord with the statutory
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49 Id. This opinion also has policy language that formed the
foundation for one of the first exceptions to the going-and-coming
rule: the special hazard exception. Id. The special hazard exception
provides for workersâ compensation benefits where an âoff-premises
point at which the injury occurred lies on the only route, or at least
on the normal route, which employees must traverse to reach the
[work site], and that therefore the special hazards of that route
become the hazards of the employment.â Soldier Creek Coal Co., 709
P.2d at 1166 (quoting LARSON, THE LAW OF WORKMENâS
COMPENSATION § 15.13 (1985)).
50 McDonaldâs of Layton, 733 P.2d at 156.
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Opinion of the Court
language. Consequently, over time courts created a number of
exceptions to the going-and-coming rule.51
¶32 These exceptions had the effect of making off-premises
accidents compensable in certain situations. For example, we have
applied these exceptions to award compensation to a traveling
employee injured off of the employerâs premises because the mode
of transportation was furnished by the employer for the employerâs
benefit.52 And we have also granted compensation where the
employee suffered an injury while upon a âspecial errandâ or
âspecial missionâ for the employer.53 As we explained in Jex, these
exceptions represent âlimited circumstances in which an accident in
the course of âgoing and comingâ [to or from an employerâs
premises] is nonetheless within the course of employment.â54
¶33 Because determining whether a particular exception would
apply in a given case presented a fact-intensive test that was difficult
to apply consistently,55 in Jex, we articulated a simpler test that can
be applied more consistently.56 In so doing, we considered a number
of our previous going-and-coming cases before concluding that, in
those cases, âan employee is in âthe course of [her] employmentâ if
she is injured while subject to her employerâs control and while
benefiting the employer.â57 Accordingly, after our decision in Jex,
whether the going-and-coming rule will bar compensation for
off-premises injuries depends on âtwo factorsâemployer control and
benefits conferred.â58
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51 Barney v. Indus. Commân, 506 P.2d 1271, 1272 (Utah 1973)
(explaining that the various exceptions to the going-and-coming rule
had been created over time as courts made âspecific applications of
the statute to particular fact situationsâ).
52 Salt Lake City Corp., 2007 UT 4, ¶ 6.
53State (Tax Commân) v. Indus. Commân of Utah, 685 P.2d 1051, 1053
(Utah 1984).
54 Jex, 2013 UT 40, ¶ 18.
55 Kinne v. Indus. Commân, 609 P.2d 926, 927 (Utah 1980).
56 Jex, 2013 UT 40, ¶¶ 16, 26â27.
57 Id. ¶ 26 (alteration in original).
58 Id. ¶ 27.
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IHG v. LABOR COMMâN
Opinion of the Court
¶34 But our opinion in Jex did nothing to modify our approach
to injuries suffered while an employee was travelling on his or her
employerâs premises. As we have explained, the going-and-coming
rule stems from an understanding that accidents occurring off of an
employerâs premises should not be compensable under the workersâ
compensation statute. Thus where an employee is injured on his or
her employerâs premises, the going-and-coming rule does not apply,
and the employee is considered to be in âthe course ofâ employment.
This is so because when the employee is injured on an employerâs
premises, the employeeâs âconnection with employment is both
âphysical and tangible.ââ59 Thus the âemployerâs property line
provides a bright lineâ for determining whether the injured
employee is entitled to compensation, and once an employee is
found to have been injured on his or her employerâs premises, no
other factors need be considered.60
¶35 In sum, the going-and-coming rule does not apply in cases
in which an employee is injured on an employerâs premises. Because
the Labor Commission concluded that Ms. Wilsonâs accident
occurred on IHGâs premises, it did not err in declining to consider
the Jex factors before concluding that Ms. Wilsonâs accident occurred
in the course of her employment.
B. The Labor Commission did not err in concluding that Ms. Wilsonâs
accident occurred on IHGâs premises
¶36 But IHG also argues that the Labor Commission erred in
finding that IHGâs premises included the parking lot at issue. The
Labor Commissionâs finding on this point is a fact-like one, to which
we grant deference. With this in mind, we must determine whether
the Labor Commission erred in finding that the parking lot in which
Ms. Wilson fell constituted a part of IHGâs premises.61 We conclude
that it did not.
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59Soldier Creek Coal Co., 709 P.2d at 1167 (quoting LARSON, THE
LAW OF WORKMENâS COMPENSATION § 15.12(a) (1985)).
60 Id.
61 See Murray v. Utah Labor Commân, 2013 UT 38, ¶ 33, 308 P.3d 461
(explaining that where, âas an appellate court,â we are not âin the
best position to say what the ârightâ answer is,â we âafford deference
to [the Labor Commissionâs] decisionâ).
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Opinion of the Court
¶37 In Bountiful Brick, the Supreme Court stated that if an
employee is injured âwhile passing, with the express or implied
consent of the employer, to or from his work by a way over the
employerâs premises, or over those of another in such proximity and
relation as to be in practical effect a part of the employerâs premises,â the
injury is compensable.62 This provides us with an operative
definition of an employerâs premises for the purpose of the workersâ
compensation statute.
¶38 Under the rule laid out in Bountiful Brick, any area within
the employerâs premises, or any area lying in such âproximity and
relation as to be in practical effect a part of the employerâs premisesâ
may be considered a part of the employerâs premises for the
purposes of a workersâ compensation determination.63 So we must
determine whether the parking lot in this case constitutes part of the
employerâs premises or lies in such proximity and relation to the
employerâs premises to be âin practical effectâ a part of the
employerâs premises. It does.
¶39 Utah courts have consistently considered the employerâs
âpremises,â in the workersâ compensation context, to include
parking lots commonly used by employees. This is so even if the
employer does not actually own the location where the accident
occurred. At least two Utah courts have found injuries stemming
from accidents in parking lots to be covered by the scope of the
Workersâ Compensation Act.64 And in Bountiful Brick, the Supreme
Court explained that the âemployerâs premisesâ could be extended
âto include adjacent premises used by the employee as a means of
ingress and egress with the express or implied consent of the
employer.â65 So, under our case law, parking lots are considered to
be part of an employerâs premises if they are used by employees, as a
means of ingress and egress into the place of employment, with the
express or implied consent of the employer.
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62 276 U.S. at 158 (emphasis added).
63 Id. According to Professor Larson, the âterm âpremisesâ
includes the entire area devoted by the employer to the industry
with which the employee is associated.â LARSON, THE LAW OF
WORKMENâS COMPENSATION § 13.04(1) (2018).
64 See Brown v. Williams, 2017 UT App 29, 392 P.3d 919; Hope v.
Berrett, 756 P.2d 102 (Utah Ct. App. 1988).
65 276 U.S. at 158.
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Opinion of the Court
¶40 This rule also accords with the majority rule in other
jurisdictions. â[P]ractically all jurisdictionsâ consider parking lots to
be âpart of the âpremises.ââ66 This is true âwhether [the lot is] within
the main company premises or separated from it,â or whether the
parking lot is âowned, controlled, or maintained by the employer.â67
So if an employee suffers an injury in âa shopping center parking lot
[that] is used by employees of businesses located in the center,â then
the parking lot may be considered a part of the employerâs
premises.68 Based on this rule, the Labor Commission did not err in
concluding that IHGâs premises included, in practical effect, the
parking lot at issue in this case.
¶41 In this case, the Labor Commission concluded that the
parking lot constituted part of IHGâs premises. Because the evidence
on record supports the finding that the parking lot is used by
employees, as a means of ingress or egress into their place of
employment, with the express or implied consent of their employer,
we cannot say the Labor Commissionâs determinationâthat the
parking lot is in practical effect a part of IHGâs premisesâwas
incorrect under the applicable standard of review.69 The accident
occurred while Ms. Wilson walked through the parking lot adjacent
to IHGâs premises. IHG has a ânonexclusive rightâ to use the entire
parking lot, as well as âexclusive parking rightsâ to certain spaces in
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66 LARSON, THE LAW OF WORKMENâS COMPENSATION § 13.04(2)(a)
(2018).
67 Id.
68 Id.
69 As we have explained, whether âthe [Labor] [C]ommission
correctly or incorrectly denied benefits is âa traditional mixed
question of law and fact.ââ Jex, 2013 UT 40, ¶ 15. And the âstandard
of review we apply when reviewing a mixed question can be either
deferential or non-deferential.â Id. âDeference on a mixed question is
warranted when the mixed finding is not law-like because it does not
lend itself to consistent resolution by a uniform body of appellate
precedent or is fact-like because the [factfinder] is in a superior
position to decide it.â Id. (alteration in original) (internal quotation
marks omitted). Under this standard, the Labor Commissionâs
determinations regarding the time, place, and factual circumstances
of the accident are fact-like. So we will not disturb them unless we
find they are clearly erroneous.
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Opinion of the Court
the lot. IHG, through its HR representative, had instructed
Ms. Wilson to use the parking lot, and both parties agree that IHG
knew Ms. Wilson regularly parked in the parking lot. Additionally, a
co-worker testified that Ms. Wilson had parked in an appropriate
location. These facts provide a sufficient basis for the Labor
Commissionâs finding that the parking lot is part of IHGâs premises.
¶42 In sum, an accident must have occurred in the course of
employment to be compensable under the workersâ compensation
statute. Where the accident occurs while the employee travels on an
employerâs premises this statutory requirement is met. The Labor
Commission found that Ms. Wilsonâs accident occurred on IHGâs
premises, and that, under our case law, this constituted an accident
in the course of her employment. We cannot say that the Labor
Commissionâs legal conclusions were incorrect, nor can we say that
its factual findings were clearly erroneous. Accordingly, we affirm
the Labor Commissionâs determination and hold that Ms. Wilsonâs
accident occurred in the course of her employment with IHG.
Conclusion
¶43 The workersâ compensation statute provides benefits to
employees for injuries caused âby accident[s] arising out of and in
the course of the employeeâs employment.â70 Because the accident in
this case arose out, and in the course, of Ms. Wilsonâs employment
with IHG, the workersâ compensation statute entitles her to benefits.
Accordingly, we affirm the Labor Commissionâs award of benefits.
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70 UTAH CODE § 34A-2-401(1).
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