DEPT. OF WATER AND POWER OF THE CITY OF LOS ANGELES v. Workmen's Comp. App. Bd.

McCOY, J. pro tem.

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The Department of Water and' Power of the City of Los Angeles seeks review and annulment of an award of workmen’s compensation benefits to an employee, a meter reader, who sustained injury when, while off work on a Saturday, he participated in an agility test given by the City of Los Angeles as a part of an open competitive test for a position with the department, as a cable splicer helper.

There is no dispute as to the facts. Robert Antrobus, the applicant, entered the employment of the Department of Water and Power, a department of the City of Los Angeles, as a meter reader on May 1, 1965. His regular work was from Monday through Friday; he did not work on Saturdays unless expressly authorized. Prior to his employment he had applied for the position of cable splicer helper in the department and had passed the written examination for that position. The position of cable splicer helper is in a separate division of the department and the work is unrelated to the work of a meter reader. Examinations and tests for all positions in the department are given by the civil service commission of the city based on job descriptions supplied by the department. On May 29, 1965, a Saturday, applicant went on his own time and at his own expense to the Police Academy, the property of the city, where he participated in the test conducted by the city civil service commission and sustained injury in the course thereof. He testified that he took the test because the opportunity for advancement appeared greater for a cable splicer helper than for a meter reader. He was not advised or encouraged to take the test by anyone in the department.

The appeals board, noting that municipal and state agencies as well as business concerns encourage employees to seek advancement and give examinations to employees to qualify for better jobs, concluded that the injury was compensable because it was sustained in the course of an activity which was for the joint benefit of the employer and the employee. The department contends that the injury is not compensable because it did" not arise out of or occur in the course of the

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applicant's employment as a meter reader. It argues that the work of meter reader did not expose the applicant to risks of the activity in which he sustained injury and that his position was therefore no different from that of any other individual applying for the position of cable splicer helper.