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Posted on 11.04.08 11:16AM under Legal Precedent, May, 2008
James KRAMER, Appellant,v.PALM BEACH COUNTY and Palm Beach County/Division of Risk Management, Appellee.
Case No. 1D07-1551.
District Court of Appeal of Florida, First District.
Opinion filed March 31, 2008
Claimant, a bridge tender for Palm Beach County, suffered leg injuries after tripping on a pile of debris left in a county right-of-way as a result of Hurricane Wilma. At his compensability hearing, the JCC heard testimony that Claimant was not parked in the designated bridge tender’s parking area, but rather parked his vehicle in the parking lot of a nearby shopping center. The injury occurred just prior to 6:00 a.m., as Claimant walked from the shopping center to the bridge house to begin his shift.
The JCC found that Claimant’s injury fell within the “going or coming” rule set forth in section 440.092(2), Florida Statutes (2004), and denied compensability. Claimant argues that his injury either fell within the “premises” exception to the rule or was the result of a “special hazard,” which is another exception to the general rule.
We agree with the JCC that Claimant’s injury did not occur on Employer’s premises, and affirm on that ground; however, we agree with Claimant that his injury fits within the special hazard exception.
If an accident is deemed to have occurred off-premises, an employee’s injury is compensable if it is caused by a special hazard on a normal and customary route used by the employee as a means of entry to and exit from the employee’s place of work. See Doctor’s Bus. Serv., Inc. v. Clark, 498 So. 2d 659, 663 (Fla. 1st DCA 1986) (en banc). There are two prongs to the special hazard exception: (1) the presence of a special hazard at a particular off-site location, and (2) close association of the access route to the work premises. Toyota of Pensacola v. Maines, 558 So. 2d 1072, 1075 (Fla. 1st DCA 1990)
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