Authorities as the decision cited them, with how this panel applied each one.
Labor Code section 3600
Injury must arise out of and in the course of employment to be compensable.
Applied to determine compensability of injury.
From the decision · page 4Labor Code section 3600 imposes liability on an employer for workers' compensation
benefits only if its employee sustains an injury "arising out of and in the course of employment."
The "going and coming" rule excludes from compensability injuries that occur while the employee
is going to or returning from work in the routine commute. (Ocean Acc. & Guarantee Co. v.
Industrial Acc. Com. (Slattery) (1916) 173 Cal. 313.) "The rule provides that an injury suffered
`during a local commute en route to a fixed place of business at fixed hours in the absence of
special or extraordinary circumstances is not within the course of employment.'" (Price v.
Workers' Comp. Appeals Bd. (Price) (1984) 37 Cal.3d 559, 564§ 565 [49 Cal.Comp.Cases 772]
quoting Hinojosa v. Workmen's Comp. Appeals Bd. (1972) 8 Cal.3d 150, 157 [37 Cal.Comp.Cases
734].) The rationale for this judicially created doctrine is that during an ordinary commute, the
employee is not rendering any service for the benefit of the employer. (City of San Diego v.
Workers' Comp. Appeals Bd. (Molnar) (2001) 89 Cal.App.4th 1385 [66 Cal.Comp.Cases 692].)
Ocean Acc. & Guarantee Co. v. Industrial Acc. Com. (Slattery) (1916) 173 Cal. 313
Going and coming rule excludes injuries during routine commute unless exceptions apply.
Applied to exclude injury from compensability under routine commute.
From the decision · page 4Labor Code section 3600 imposes liability on an employer for workers' compensation
benefits only if its employee sustains an injury "arising out of and in the course of employment."
The "going and coming" rule excludes from compensability injuries that occur while the employee
is going to or returning from work in the routine commute. (Ocean Acc. & Guarantee Co. v.
Industrial Acc. Com. (Slattery) (1916) 173 Cal. 313.) "The rule provides that an injury suffered
`during a local commute en route to a fixed place of business at fixed hours in the absence of
special or extraordinary circumstances is not within the course of employment.'" (Price v.
Workers' Comp. Appeals Bd. (Price) (1984) 37 Cal.3d 559, 564§ 565 [49 Cal.Comp.Cases 772]
quoting Hinojosa v. Workmen's Comp. Appeals Bd. (1972) 8 Cal.3d 150, 157 [37 Cal.Comp.Cases
734].) The rationale for this judicially created doctrine is that during an ordinary commute, the
employee is not rendering any service for the benefit of the employer. (City of San Diego v.
Workers' Comp. Appeals Bd. (Molnar) (2001) 89 Cal.App.4th 1385 [66 Cal.Comp.Cases 692].)
Zenith National Ins. Co. v. Workmen's Comp. App. Bd. (1967) 66 Cal.2d 944
Exceptions to going and coming rule include employer furnished transportation or compensation for travel time.
Considered exceptions to going and coming rule for compensability.
From the decision · page 4However, numerous exceptions to the going and coming rule exist. (Hinojosa, supra, at p.
156.) "Since the going and coming rule rests upon the basis that the employer-employee
relationship lapses during the employee's off-duty absence from the job, [] the rule does not apply
in the event that the relationship in fact continues.... courts have recognized exceptions to the
rule upon a showing that the employer furnished transportation to the worker, or compensated him
for travel time or defrayed his travel expenses." (Zenith National Ins. Co. v. Workmen's Comp.
App. Bd. (1967) 66 Cal.2d 944, 947 [32 Cal.Comp.Cases 236]; see also Kobe v. Industrial Acci.
Com. (1950) 35 Cal. 2d 33, 35 (15 Cal.Comp.Cases 85, 87) [the employer may agree, either
expressly or impliedly, that the relationship shall continue during the period of "going and
coming," in which case the employee is entitled to the protection of the act during that period....
such an agreement may... be inferred from the fact that the employer compensates the employee
for the time consumed in traveling to and from work").)