High Court rules for labor

Friday, July 29, 2005 | 10:54 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- Employees injured while arriving or leaving their jobs may now qualify for workers' compensation benefits in some cases.

In two cases Thursday, the Nevada Supreme Court modified the general "going and coming" rule that has long held that employees are not entitled to workers' compensation for injuries sustained while traveling to or from work.

The court upheld the claim of Brenda Cotton, who was walking through the parking lot of the MGM Mirage's risk management office in Las Vegas about 10 minutes before her scheduled shift. She tripped over a curb and suffered a broken ankle and a torn ligament.

The state's high court also ruled that Susan Woodward was entitled to workers' compensation benefits when she tripped over a curb in the parking lot of the Adobe Mobile Station in Henderson where she worked. She suffered a shoulder injury.

In the Cotton case, she was on MGM Mirage property as she walked from the hotel's parking lot to the employee's sidewalk entrance within 10 minutes before she was scheduled to work.

MGM Mirage denied Cotton's claim, saying she failed to establish her injury arose out of and in the course of employment. A hearing officer backed up MGM, but an appeals officer awarded Cotton compensation. District Judge Jessie Elizabeth Walsh upheld the award.

"Cotton first showed that her injury occurred in the course of employment because she was injured within a reasonable time before starting work," the Supreme Court said.

"Second, she demonstrated that her injury arose out of her employment because she established the causal link between the injury and the workplace conditions or workplace environment," the court said.

"We expressly adopt a premises-related exception to the going-and-coming rule and hold that an employee injured on the employer's premises while proceeding to and from work within a reasonable interval before or after work may be entitled to workers' compensation."

Woodward was a cashier at the gas station and was reporting for work an hour early. Travelers Property Casualty denied her compensation claim, saying Woodward's injury was not in the course of employment and that she was not doing anything to benefit her employer.

The Supreme Court, in upholding the ruling of District Judge David Wall, said Woodward had reported for work early for years and had been commended for her attendance record.

The court said it is a question of fact whether an employee is proceeding to or from work "within a reasonable interval of time." In this case, in light of Woodward's habitual early arrival, the premises-related exception applied.

It said the appeals officer in this case did not abuse his discretion in deciding Woodward was entitled to be covered by workers' compensation insurance.