WPC6 5# UN %O 0NU 0bTw@\4MU] 0J] 0T 0^ 0hY 0r 0|3 0 05 1u 0d: AQ  0j 0@ 0D_ D/ B B D3 U>?B)}DC AMU*6H`=v~vcHP LaserJet 4 PlusHPPCL5MS,,,,,,0nLH'"  Z 6Times New Roman Regular(&y$   (a(2>T$ y!     X X    0  - - :;E<=D>?Ӏ@UAVBCDe"(3|xCTRANSPORTATION INSURANCE V. CLAYTON REES - BRANDT OPINION  ' ' IB011C20IB011C2 .   2 0Indent123  2" 0Indent20 23  2, 0Indent30 0 23  26 0Indent40 0 0 23  2@ 0Indent50 0 0 0 23  2J 0Indent60 0 0 0 0 23  2T 0Indent70 0 0 0 0 0 23  2^ 0Indent80 0 0 0 0 0 0 23   ?AGMSYaioIndent0I.A.1.a.(1)(a)i)a)P 8Mac DefaultMac Default ` X!"#$&C<< CLevel 1Level 2Level 3Level 4Level 5(B3w$ y!     ("$    ($$   1  ((' dxd dP Pd'''''dxd<  9p`(&Times New Roman% Line 7 d----7Border 1dd!#.C << G<  9p`(Arial > !  #d#,,   ""  00   YYY FILED0XApril25,1997CecilW.CrowsonAppellateCourtClerk   3 !#d#,,   ""  00   YYY FILED0XApril25,1997CecilW.CrowsonAppellateCourtClerk  PtPtHH(FG(HH(d'hStyl{WP}01  HH  2$HH  Geneva  <Px443!#4$*$$*$ KK  Geneva  Geneva .,6 Geneva   h HD: Geneva  h HD: Geneva ! . ,,   ݛ        \RA'\  \RA'\7Fdd7    @ , INTHESUPREMECOURTOFTENNESSEE@ SPECIALWORKERSCOMPENSATIONAPPEALSPANEL̜!R/1.A1-j|`  `@Rߛ@ ATNASHVILLE,@ ,(January23,1997Session), , TRANSPORTATIONINSURANCE )COMPANYand    )THESTARRCOMPANY,INC. )d/b/aROCKHARBORMARINA, )      ) DAVIDSONCIRCUIT Plaintiffs/Appellees,  )      ) Hon.J.RussellHeldman,      ) SpecialJudgeVS.      )      ) No.01S019606CV00123      ) CLAYTONB.REES,   )      ) Defendant/Appellant.  )FortheAppellant:     FortheAppellees:NaderBaydoun     TerryL.HillJohnI.Harris,III     JamesH.Tucker,Jr.BAYDOUN,HARRIS&REESE  MANIER,HEROD,HOLLABAUGHNashville,Tennessee     &SMITH       Nashville,Tennessee@ ,  MEMORANDUMOPINION ,@ MembersofPanel:0 0 AdolphoA.Birch,Jr.,ChiefJustice,SupremeCourt    RobertS.Brandt,SeniorJudge    JoeC.Loser,Jr.,SpecialJudgeAFFIRMED       Brandt,SeniorJudge,@ MEMORANDUMOPINION , ThisworkerscompensationappealhasbeenreferredtotheSpecialWorkersCompensationAppealsPaneloftheSupremeCourtinaccordancewithTenn.CodeAnn.506225(e)(3)forhearingandreportingoffindingsoffactandconclusionsoflaw. Thiscasepresentsthequestionofwhetheranemployeespossessionorbusinessuseofaportabletelephoneconvertsanotherwisenoncompensableinjuryintoacompensableone.Weconcludethatitdoesnotandaffirmthetrialcourtsdenialofbenefits. Theemployee,ClaytonRees,hadbeenemployedbyRockHarborMarinainNashvilleforonlyfourweekswhenhewasinjuredwhiledrivingtowork.Hewasacommissionboatsalesman.RockHarborpaidReesadrawagainstfuturecommissions,butatthetimeoftheinjury,hehadyettosellaboatforRockHarbor. ReeslivedinTullahoma,aboutequaldistancebetweenNashvillewhereheworkedandChattanoogawherehisfianclived.OnthemorningofMarch12,1994,whilecommutingtoworkfromTullahomatoNashvilleinhisowntruck,ReeswasinjuredinavehiclecollisiononUS231justnorthofShelbyville.Adrunkdrivercausedthecollision. Tobecoveredbyworkerscompensation,theinjurymustariseoutofandinthecourseandscopeofemployment.Tenn.CodeAnn.506103.Aninjurysustainedenroutetoorfromworkisnotconsideredinthecourseofemployment.Lollarv.WalMartStores,Inc.767S.W.2d143,144(Tenn.1989).Thereareexceptionstothisrule,suchaswhentheemployeeisontheemployerspremises,Id.150,butnoneoftheexceptionsapplyhere. Reesseekstoavoidthisfirmandlongstandingrulebecausehehadaportabletelephonewithhimonhiscommuteand,accordingtohim,wasattemptingtoplaceabusinesscallwhenthewreckhappened.Reesacknowledges,however,thathisuseofthetelephoneatthetimehadnothingtodowiththecollision.󀀀 HealsostressesthatRockHarborpaidfortheportabletelephoneservice.Thatwasamistake,though.WhenReessignedupforservicewiththeprovider,helistedRockHarborasthepurchaseroftheservice.RockHarborneveragreedtopayfortheservice,excepttoreimburseReesforbusinesscalls.Moreover,evenifRockHarborprovidedthetelephoneandservicetoRees,hisuseofitonhiscommutewouldstillnotmakethisacompensableinjury.Itwouldnotalterthefactthathisinjury,causedbyadrunkdriverwhilehewascommutingtoworkinhisownvehicle,neitheraroseoutofnoroccurredwithinthecourseandscopeofhisemploymentatRockHarbor. IfReesspositionwereadopted,thenmostanyinjury,whereveritoccurredathome,atwork,oratplaywouldbecompensableunderworkerscompensationthatis,solongastheworkerwascarryingaportabletelephone. Reescontendshereallywasatworkbecausehistruckwasan extendedoffice.Buthemerelytestifiedthathecarriedcontractsandliteratureinhistrucksohewouldhavethemavailablewithhim.Thisisnotacaseinwhichanoutsideworkeruseshisorherownpersonalvehicleasanintegralpartofperforminghisorherduties. IfReess extendedofficetheorywereadopted,theresultwouldbethesameaswiththeportabletelephone.Anyemployeecarryingbusinesspapersinhisvehiclewouldbecoveredbyworkerscompensation. Inaddition,Reescontendsthatheshouldbecoveredbyworkerscompensationbecausehewasgoingtoworkearlierthannormal.ThereceptionisthadtobeoutthatSaturdaymorning,andsheaskedReestocometoworkearlytoopenthestore.Hewasalreadyplanningonmeetingacustomerassoonashearrivedatworkthatmorning,andrescheduledhiscustomermeetingforanearliertime.Goingtoworkearlierthanusualasafavortoanotheremployee,oreventohelptheemployer,doesnotremovethiscasefromthefirmrulethatenrouteinjuriesarenotcompensable. Finally,ReesassertsthatRockHarborsfailuretofileanoticeofcontroversypursuanttoTenn.CodeAnn.506205(d)precludesRockHarborfromdenyingtheclaim.Thestatutehasnoapplicabilityhere,foritonlyappliestocasesinwhichtheemployerhasvoluntarilymadepaymentsandlaterelectstocontestcompensability.RockHarbornevermadepaymentstoRees.  Itis,ofcourse,regrettablethatadrunkdriverinjuredRees.Buthehasnoworkerscompensationclaim.Forthatreason,weaffirmthetrialcourtsdenialoftheclaim.Costsaretaxedtothedefendantappellant.        ____________________________       RobertS.Brandt,SeniorJudgeCONCUR:________________________________AdolphoA.Birch,Jr.,ChiefJustice________________________________JoeC.Loser,Jr.,SpecialJudge    @ INTHESUPREMECOURTOFTENNESSEE@ ATNASHVILLEJ/2;+'b|`  `@JTRANSPORTATIONINSURANCE } DAVIDSONCIRCUITCOMPANYandTHESTARR  } No.94C1383BelowCOMPANY,INC.,d/b/aROCK }HARBORMARINA,   }       } Plaintiffs/Appellees  }      } Hon.J.RussellHeldman,vs.      } SpecialJudge      }CLAYTONB.REES,   } No.01S019606CV00123      } Defendant/Appellant  } AFFIRMED.@ JUDGMENTORDER  ThiscaseisbeforetheCourtupontheentirerecord,includingtheorderofreferraltotheSpecialWorkers'CompensationAppealsPanel,andthePanel'sMemorandumOpinionsettingforthitsfindingsoffactandconclusionsoflaw,whichareincorporatedhereinbyreference.  Whereupon,itappearstotheCourtthattheMemorandumOpinionofthePanelshouldbeacceptedandapproved;and  Itis,therefore,orderedthatthePanel'sfindingsoffactandconclusionsoflawareadoptedandaffirmed,andthedecisionofthePanelismadethejudgmentoftheCourt. ` ` X  CostswillbepaidbyDefendant/AppellantandSurety,forwhichexecutionmayissueifnecessary.  ITISSOORDEREDonApril25,1997.       PERCURIAM̛