Santa Rosa Junior College v. Workers' Compensation Appeals Board

Supreme Court of California · 1985 · Torts

TortsWorkers' compensationGoing and coming ruleworkers' compensationgoing and coming rulesecond jobsitecommuting injuriesteachers

Facts

Joseph Smyth was a mathematics instructor and department head at Santa Rosa Junior College who was killed in an automobile accident while driving his personal car home from campus to Ukiah, about 60 miles away. At the time of the accident, he had student papers with him that he intended to grade at home, and he regularly did one or two hours of work at home on many evenings. The college provided each instructor an office, did not require faculty to work at home, did not pay Smyth for commuting time or distance, and neither encouraged nor discouraged taking work home. Evidence showed that faculty commonly worked at home, often to avoid interruptions on campus and for personal convenience, including spending time with family.

Issue

Does a teacher's regular practice of taking work home make the home a second jobsite so that the going and coming rule does not bar workers' compensation for injuries sustained during the commute home? More specifically, can home become a second jobsite absent an employer requirement that the employee work there as a condition of employment?

Rule

Unless the employer requires the employee to labor at home as a condition of employment, the fact that the employee regularly works at home does not transform the home into a second jobsite for purposes of the going and coming rule. Work done at home exempts a commuting injury from the going and coming rule only when circumstances of the employment, and not the employee's personal convenience, make the home a second business situs.

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One of 10 multiple-choice questions for this case. Pick an answer to see why.

Elena Park teaches history at a fictional community college in Sacramento. The college gives her a campus office, but she usually takes essays home because her office is noisy and she prefers to be with her children in the evening. She is injured in a car crash while driving home with a stack of papers she plans to grade that night.

Are Elena's injuries most likely compensable under the home-as-second-jobsite exception to the going and coming rule?

Explanation. The majority held that, unless the employer requires the employee to labor at home as a condition of employment, regular work at home does not transform the home into a second jobsite. Here, Elena has a campus office and works at home because it is quieter and more convenient for family life. Employer knowledge that many teachers do the same is not enough. Her trip is therefore a routine commute barred by the going and coming rule.