Luks Santaniello's Florida Workers Compensation blog

This May 1, 2012 1DCA opinion affirmed Judge Lorenzen’s JCC order. The Claimant appealed a final denying compensability of injuries he sustained while driving from his residence to work. 440.092(2) provides that an injury suffered while going to or coming from work does not arise out of or occur in the course of employment, and because neither the special errand nor dual purpose exceptions apply, the 1 DCA held that the JCC correctly denied Claimant’s petition for benefits. On June 10, 2010, the Claimant was scheduled to be off from work, but he had to attend a memorial service for a client that evening. Although the funeral home had staff to load the equipment needed for the service, Claimant, who normally would have gone directly to the service site, chose instead to go to the funeral home to load the equipment himself, before proceeding to the memorial service. On his way to the funeral home, he lost control of his motorcycle, fell, and was injured. The “going and coming”...