Magee v. State Accident Insurance Fund
Magee v. State Accident Insurance Fund
Opinion of the Court
This is an appeal from an order of the Board denying medical and disability benefits for injuries sustained in an automobile accident. The Board reversed the referee’s finding that claimant’s business and personal motivations were concurrent when the accident occurred and that, therefore, he was entitled to the protection of the Workers’ Compensation Law.
The parties agree that the applicable law is stated in Rosencrantz v. Insurance Service, 2 Or App 225, 227, 467 P2d 664 (1970):
"The question before this court *** is the same as that presented to the [referee and Board], i.e., whether decedent’s death resulted from injury arising out of and in the course of his employment. *** Of course, a trip that is purely personal does not arise out of and in the course of employment. However, if the trip is one of dual purpose, both business and personal, then the injury may arise out of and in the course of employment under certain circumstances. 1 Larson, Workmen’s Compensation Law 294.3, § 18.00 (1968), states the test this way:
" 'Injury during a trip which serves both a business and a personal purpose is within the course of employment if the trip involves the performance of a service for the employer which would have caused the trip to be taken by someone even if it had not coincided with the personal journey ***.
" The basic dual-purpose rule, accepted by the great majority of jurisdictions, may be summarized as follows: when a trip serves both business and
personal purposes, it is a personal trip if the trip would have been made in spite of the failure or absence of the business purpose and would have been dropped in the event of failure of the private purpose, though the business errand remained undone; it is a business trip if a trip of this kind would have been made in spite of the failure or absence of the private purpose, because the service to be performed for the employer would have caused the journey to be made by someone even if it had not coincided with the employee’s personal journey.’ ”
The referee noted several inconsistencies in plaintiff’s evidence but concluded that the claimant
Affirmed.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.