Can sales rep get workers’ comp for car crash?
January 11, 2011 by Fred HosierPosted in: In this week's e-newsletter, Injuries, Latest News & Views, What do you think?, Workers' comp, new court decision
When is a sales rep on the job while driving a company car? The answer can determine whether injuries received in a car crash are eligible for workers’ comp coverage.
It took appeals up to the Texas Supreme Court to unravel this case.
Liana Leordeanu was a pharmaceutical sales representative for Schering Plough.
One night she was seriously injured in a car crash while driving in a company vehicle between a client dinner and a storage unit where she said she was going to drop off samples and sales supplies and then continue home, which was across the street from the storage unit. The crash occurred before she reached the storage unit.
Leordeanu filed a workers’ comp claim which was denied on the basis that her injuries didn’t occur within the course and scope of employment.
The two sides agreed that the coming-and-going rule that excludes travel from work to home from comp coverage didn’t apply because under Texas law, travel in a company car is an exception to the rule.
Another rule, known as the dual-purpose rule, states “an employee traveling for both business and personal purposes is in the course and scope of employment only if the business purpose is both a necessary and sufficient cause for the travel.”
The insurance company argued that the dual-purpose rule applied in this case, therefore Leordeanu should not receive workers’ comp benefits.
The insurer said the sales rep would have driven home whether or not she needed to drop work supplies at the storage locker.
The Texas Supreme Court said the dual-purpose rule didn’t apply in this case, because the rule was developed for travel between work and a place other than home.
Therefore, the court ruled the sales rep’s trip was work-related and the incident should be covered by workers’ comp.
(Leordeanu v. American Protection Insurance Co., Texas Supreme Court, No. 09-0330, 12/3/10)
What do you think about the court’s ruling? Let us know in the Comments Box below.
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Tags: coming-and-going rule, company car, dual-purpose rule, sales rep, Workers' comp
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January 19th, 2011 at 10:10 am
I think the court ruled correctly given the facts as presented. The question I have is: was Ms. Leordeanu REALLY going to the storage unit or was that a convenient scenario concocted to receive benefits? We’ll never know.
February 18th, 2011 at 10:45 pm
1905.b(6) clearly says ” injuries and illness that occur while an employee is on travel status are work related, if at the time of injury or illness the employee was engaged in work activities ‘ in the interest of employer’ “.
Obviously, after lookin only at given story, it is clearly work related and entitled for WC.
February 19th, 2011 at 11:55 am
Perfect!! as it supposed to be.
April 14th, 2011 at 10:49 am
She was clearly doing work-related travel, business travel, for her employer. The employer gave her a car, which was necessary for her job duties of traveling around. She should be covered unless she deviated well off her work travel.
August 4th, 2011 at 7:11 pm
As a former pharmaceutical sales rep, I totally agree with the decision. I too have been in that same scenario; hosting a dinner for physicians and then leaving to go to my storage locker to get rid of my empty sample boxes, load up my trunk with new samples, fill my car with fresh detail pieces with which I use as sales aids, pens, sticky notes etc. that we all have to leave behind at the doctor’s office after each sales call. This is Part Of The Job. Often times, it takes well over 45 minutes, as some managers want you to balance you inventory of samples daily. No easy task! There is no getting around going to the locker on a daily basis. Hosting a dinner and then going to your locker is just another part of the job, after 8-10 hours on the road, bringing lunch to see the physicians etc. Often times, you are starting your morning at the locker and then ending your evening there. *Notice I write evening. Our jobs are not 40 hour work weeks. Try double and more. A home office with more work to be had.. Former pharmaceutical rep- I’d never go back, though I was a top seller with many awards for the 3 companies I worked for. No Thank You. (my comp was paid, but it took an attorney and a lawsuit.)