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Holter v. Western Reserve Telephone Co.6/21/2002
DECISION AND JUDGMENT ENTRY
. This is an appeal from an Athens County Common Pleas Court summary judgment in favor of James Conrad, Administrator of the Bureau of Workers' Compensation, and Western Reserve Telephone Company (Western Reserve), defendants below and appellees herein. Gordon Holter, plaintiff below and appellant herein, assigns the following error for review:
. "THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS ERRED IN GRANTING DEFENDANT-APPELLEE WESTERN RESERVE TELEPHONE COMPANY'S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT. GENUINE ISSUES OF MATERIAL FACT WERE PRESENT IN THE RECORD AND REASONABLE MINDS VIEWING THE EVIDENCE MOST FAVORABLY TO PLAINTIFF COULD FIND THAT PLAINTIFF'S INJURIES WERE SUSTAINED IN THE COURSE OF AND ARISING OUT OF HIS EMPLOYMENT WITH DEFENDANT-APPELLEE WESTERN RESERVE TELEPHONE COMPANY."
. On March 27, 2000, at approximately 7:40 a.m., appellant was involved in a head-on automobile collision. At the time of the accident, appellant was driving his personal vehicle and was en route to work at Western Reserve Telephone Company, where appellant was employed as a cable slicer/outside technician.
. Appellant's normal work hours were 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Occasionally, appellant, was required to perform after hours "call-out" jobs and was permitted to use his own vehicle for those call-out jobs. At the time of appellant's accident, appellant was not working on an after hours job.
. Although appellant was driving his personal vehicle, a reel of cable that belonged to his employer and weighed approximately 500 pounds sat in the bed of appellant's pickup truck. When the accident occurred, the reel of cable struck the back of appellant's pickup truck cab and then rolled down an embankment.
. Appellant submitted the affidavit of an expert who opined: "If the impact were of sufficient magnitude, the reel of wire would strike the back of the passenger cab, causing damage to the vehicle as depicted in the attached photographs." The expert also stated that the reel of wire could have damaged the support for the driver's seat belt, which would permit the driver to travel farther forward in a front-end collision and which could lead to potential contact with the steering wheel, dashboard, and windshield, presenting an increased risk of injury.
. Eventually, appellant filed a workers' compensation claim. Appellant's claim was denied at all administrative levels.
. On November 16, 2000, appellant filed a notice of appeal from the decision that denied his claim. See R.C. 4123.512. Appellant and Western Reserve subsequently filed cross-motions for summary judgment. Western Reserve argued that appellant's injuries did not occur in the course of and did not arise out of appellant's employment. Western Reserve asserted that appellant, as a fixed-situs employee, could not recover for injuries sustained while traveling to his place of employment. Appellant, on the other hand, argued that: (1) the totality of the circumstances demonstrated that his injury arose out of the employment relationship; and (2) alternatively, the existence of a special hazard established that his injury arose out of the employment relationship.
. On December 28, 2001, the trial court granted summary judgment in Western Reserve's favor. The trial court concluded that neither the totality of the circumstances exception nor the special hazard exception applied to lift the general bar against workers' compensation recovery for employees injured while traveling to a fixed place of employment. Appellant filed a timely notice of appeal.
. Initially, we note that when an appellate court reviews a trial court's decision regardin
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