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Wal-Mart Stores11/9/2005
ental fall and resulting injury, she was performing employment services within the meaning of Arkansas Code Annotated section 11-9-102(4)(B)(iii) and that her employment related injury is not expressly excluded from constituting a compensable injury by the provisions of this subsection. Furthermore, the Commission held that appellee had proven that the physical injuries that she sustained satisfied all of the statutory requirements for a compensable injury.
Appellant asks us to reverse the Commission arguing that because appellee slipped and fell while going on her break, her actions were totally personal in nature. It asserts that because her intent was to go to the employee lounge, that appellant received no benefit from her actions. Appellant also argues that although appellee had a duty to help any customer on her way to the break room, that she was not actually performing any of these types of duties when she fell. Appellant relies heavily on the cases of McKinney v. Train and Travelers Indemnity Co., 84 Ark. App. 424, 143 S.W.3d 581 (2004) and Robinson v. St. Vincent, -- Ark. App. --, -- S.W. 3d --- (Oct. 27, 2004), in its argument. In both of those cases, we affirmed the Commission's denial of benefits.
In reviewing decisions from the Workers' Compensation Commission, we view the evidence and all reasonable inferences deducible therefrom in the light most favorable to the Commission's findings, and we affirm if the decision is supported by substantial evidence. Smith v. City of Fort Smith, 84 Ark. App. 430, 143 S.W.3d 593 (2004). Substantial evidence exists if reasonable minds could reach the same conclusion. Id. When a claim is denied because the claimant has failed to show an entitlement to compensation by a preponderance of the evidence, the substantial-evidence standard of review requires us to affirm if the Commission's opinion displays a substantial basis for the denial of relief. Id.
Here, appellant challenges the Commission's award of benefits asserting that the Commission erred as a matter of law by determining that appellee was engaged in employment services at the time of the accident, thereby sustaining a compensable injury. Arkansas Code Annotated section 11-9-102(4)(A)(I) (Supp. 2001) defines "compensable injury" as "an accidental injury causing internal or external harm ... arising out of and in the course of employment...." Employment services are performed when the employee does something that is generally required by his or her employer. Collins v. Excel Spec. Prods., 347 Ark. 811, 69 S.W.3d 14 (2002); Pifer v. Single Source Transp., 347 Ark. 851, 69 S.W.3d 1 (2002). We use the same test to determine whether an employee was performing "employment services" as we do when determining whether an employee was acting within "the course of employment." Collins, supra; Pifer, supra. The test is whether the injury occurred "within the time and space boundaries of employment, when the employee carrying out the employer's purpose or advancing the employer's interests directly or indirectly." Collins, supra; Pifer, supra. In both Collins and Pifer, the supreme court specifically overruled "all prior decisions by the Arkansas Court of Appeals" to the extent that they were inconsistent with the holdings in Collins and Pifer. See Collins, 347 Ark. at 819, 69 S.W.3d at 20; Pifer, 347 Ark. at 859, 69 S.W. 3d at 5.
While appellant urges us to find similarities between the employees' situations in McKinney and Robinson, the relevant inquiry is whether reasonable minds could reach the same conclusion as the Commission given the evidence presented. In the case before us, the store manager testified that the normal procedure followed by employees taking a break was
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