City of San Diego v. Workers' Compensation Appeals Board

[1387]

Opinion

McINTYRE, J.

Under principles of workers’ compensation law, an employee commuting to or from work is generally not considered to be acting within the scope of his or her employment at that time.

(Dimmig

v.

Workmen’s Comp. Appeals Bd.

(1972) 6 Cal.3d 860, 865-866 [101 Cal.Rptr. 105, 495 P.2d 433].) This principle, which is known as the “going and coming” rule, is subject to an exception where the commuting employee is on a special mission or errand for the employer.

(Id.

at p. 868.) We hold that a police officer whose duties include testifying in court is not on a special mission while commuting from home to court to testify.

Factual and Procedural Background

San Diego Police Officer Stephen E. Molnar was required by subpoena to attend a court proceeding on a day that he was not scheduled to report for duty. He was scheduled to testify on a matter arising out of his police work as a patrol officer. While Molnar was driving his personal car from home to the courthouse, he was injured in an accident. Thereafter, Molnar submitted a claim for workers’ compensation benefits to his employer, the City of San Diego (the City), which is self-insured for workers’ compensation purposes. The City denied the claim on the ground that the going and coming rule applied to preclude recovery for his injuries. On Molnar’s application to the Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board (the Board) for adjudication of his claim for benefits, the workers’ compensation judge rejected the City’s argument and awarded Molnar benefits based on a finding that he was on a special mission during his commute to the courthouse and thus was acting in the course and scope of his employment at the time of his injury. The City sought reconsideration of the matter by the Board, which affirmed the award of benefits. The City now petitions for a writ of review of the Board’s decision.

Discussion

In precluding recovery of workers’ compensation benefits for injuries sustained during an employee’s normal commute to and from work, the going and coming rule is based on the notion that an employee is not rendering services that benefit the employer during his or her commute.