Oregon: Physician’s Injuries in Hospital Parking Lot Not Barred by Going and Coming Rule

An injury that occurs when a worker is going to work is compensable if the worker is within the employer's direction and control at the time of the injury; it is not barred by the usual “going and coming” rule, said an Oregon appellate court. Accordingly, a hospitalist physician, who sustained injuries when he slipped and fell on ice in the hospital parking lot while on his way to work one morning, could recover workers’ compensation benefits for a fractured leg in spite of the fact that he had not yet reached the hospital structure itself. The physician had a pager, had checked it prior to departing for the hospital, and was required to be available at the hospital within 10 to 15 minutes of being paged. Under the circumstances, there was sufficient evidence to support the Board’s findings that the physician was on duty and within the employer’s direction and control at the time of his fall. 

Thomas A. Robinson, J.D., the Feature National Columnist for the LexisNexis Workers’ Compensation eNewsletter, is the co-author of Larson’s Workers’ Compensation Law (LexisNexis).

LexisNexis Online Subscribers: Citations below link to Lexis Advance. 

See SAIF Corp. v. Massari (In re Comp. of Massari), 291 Ore. App. 349, 2018 Ore. App. LEXIS 490 (Apr. 18, 2018)

See generally Larson’s Workers’ Compensation Law, § 14.01.

Source: Larson’s Workers’ Compensation Law, the nation’s leading authority on workers’ compensation law