Parks v. Workers' Compensation Appeals Board
660 P.2d 382, 33 Cal.3d 585, 190 Cal. Rptr. 158 (1983)
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Rule of Law:
An injury sustained by an employee during their commute may be compensable under the "special risk" exception to the going and coming rule if the employment creates a risk that is distinctive or quantitatively greater than that faced by the general public, and the injury occurs within the zone of that risk.
Facts:
- Sandra Parks was a teacher at the 111th Street School in the Watts section of Los Angeles.
- On January 17, 1979, after finishing her workday, Parks got into her car in the school parking lot.
- She drove out of the lot, turned onto Compton Boulevard, and traveled one to two car lengths.
- Her car, along with other traffic, was forced to stop by a group of departing school children crossing the street.
- While her car was stopped and boxed in, three youths opened her driver's side door.
- The youths wrestled her purse away from her and fled.
- As a result of the assault, Parks suffered physical and emotional trauma that prevented her from working for three weeks.
Procedural Posture:
- Sandra Parks filed a workers' compensation claim against her employer, the Los Angeles Unified School District.
- A workers' compensation judge granted her claim.
- The school district, as respondent, petitioned the Workers' Compensation Appeals Board (WCAB) for reconsideration.
- The WCAB granted reconsideration and rescinded the award, finding the disability did not occur in the course of employment.
- Parks, as petitioner, then petitioned the California Supreme Court for review of the WCAB decision.
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Issue:
Does the 'going and coming' rule bar workers' compensation for a teacher assaulted in her car on a public street shortly after leaving the school parking lot, when her car was immobilized by departing school children blocking traffic?
Opinions:
Majority - Bird, C. J.
No, the 'going and coming' rule does not bar compensation because the injury falls under the 'special risk' exception. The court applied a two-prong test, finding that: 1) 'but for' her employment, Parks would not have been at the location of the assault, and 2) the risk she faced was 'quantitatively greater' than the risk common to the public. Her employment regularly subjected her to the specific hazard of being trapped in traffic by departing students, making her a 'sitting duck' for an assault. This recurring situation, created by the nature of her employment, extended the zone of employment risk beyond the school's property line. Therefore, the injury occurred within the course of her employment.
Dissenting - Richardson, J.
Yes, the 'going and coming' rule bars compensation. Once Parks left the employer's parking lot and entered a public street, she was in the course of a normal commute. The 'special risk' exception does not apply because the risk of a random criminal assault is a danger common to the public at large, not one peculiar to her employment as a teacher. The assault was a wholly random and unforeseeable act by third parties unrelated to her work. The risk was not distinctive in nature or quantitatively greater than that faced by any other member of the public driving on that street, and thus the injury did not arise out of and in the course of employment.
Analysis:
This decision significantly expands the 'special risk' exception to the going and coming rule by focusing on the quantitative aspect of risk exposure. It establishes that a risk need not be unique in nature, but can become a 'special risk' if the employment causes the employee to be exposed to it more frequently or to an abnormal degree. This blurs the traditional 'premises line' doctrine, extending potential employer liability for workers' compensation to areas immediately adjacent to the workplace where employment-related conditions create a heightened, predictable danger for commuting employees.
