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Robertson v. Cardi Corp.5/31/2005
DECISION OF THE APPELLATE DIVISION
This matter is before the Appellate Division on the appeal of the petitioner/employee from the denial of his original petition for workers' compensation benefits in which he alleges that he was injured as a result of a motor vehicle accident that occurred as he was attempting to enter the employer's construction site on Interstate Route 95. After reviewing the record and considering the arguments of counsel, we deny the employee's appeal and affirm the decision and decree of the trial judge.
There is little dispute regarding the facts. The employee testified that he had been working for the respondent as a carpenter apprentice/laborer for about two (2) years or more. In the fall of 2002, he was assigned to a work site located under a bridge in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, between the northbound and southbound lanes of Interstate Route 95. His workday started at 6:30 a.m., and he drove his own vehicle to the job site. Prior to October 28, 2002, he had reported to work at this site five (5) or six (6) times. The entrance to the work site was a space between the Jersey barriers surrounding the work site which was large enough for a vehicle to slow down and pull inside the barriers from the high speed lane on the northbound side of Route 95.
The employee stated that on October 28, 2002, he was in the northbound high speed lane of Route 95 and stopped his vehicle while he waited for a Cardi Corporation pickup truck to pull into the opening to the work site. He indicated that he was about ten (10) feet from the opening. He had his hazard lights on, but a vehicle came up from behind him and rear-ended the employee's vehicle. Mr. Robertson got out of his car, as did the other driver. After some words were exchanged, the other driver got in his vehicle and drove off. Co-workers of the employee, who were already inside the job site, called the police and moved the employee's car inside the Jersey barriers. An ambulance took the employee to the hospital.
William Marley, a labor foreman for Cardi Corporation, testified that on October 28, 2002, he was driving a company truck to the work site on Route 95 North and towing a light tower. He turned left into the work site and backed up the light tower and pickup truck alongside the Jersey barrier. He asserted that the employee's vehicle was about one hundred (100) feet from the opening to the job site. At that time, he saw the employee standing outside of his vehicle on the other side of the barrier speaking to the man who had just rear-ended the employee's vehicle. Mr. Marley exited the pickup truck, asked the employee if he needed assistance, and then called 9-1-1.
Michael McGowan, a laborer for Cardi Corporation, was a passenger in the pickup truck driven by Mr. Marley. He testified that he saw Mr. Robertson sitting in his vehicle in the high speed lane as Mr. Marley was backing up the pickup truck inside the work area. Mr. McGowan estimated that the employee's vehicle was fifty (50) to one hundred (100) feet from the opening to the job site.
The trial judge denied the employee's petition for weekly benefits, noting that the particular facts of his case did not satisfy the requirements needed to make an exception to the application of the "going and coming" rule, which generally operates to deny compensation for injuries sustained while going to or coming from the workplace.
"The petitioner was not injured, as he argues, during the period of his employment. The workday had not started when the accident occurred, and the employee was not in the workplace at the time that it occurred. The employee was not performing a task incidental to his job duties and th
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