Summary
The Oklahoma Supreme Court held that a salaried computer programmer remained an employee, rather than a statutory volunteer, while performing lawn work at his employer's request on the employer's premises. The court concluded that the claimant's myocardial infarction arose out of and occurred in the course of employment, and that the employment was the major cause of the heart-related injury. The court vacated the Court of Civil Appeals' decision and sustained the workers' compensation award.
Topics
Practice areas
Questions Presented
- Whether Rodr was an employee rather than a statutory volunteer when he was injured while performing lawn work at his employer's request.
- Whether the lawn work was a special task performed for the benefit of the employer such that Rodr's injury arose out of and occurred in the course of his employment.
- Whether the employment was the major cause of Rodr's heart-related injury and whether the exertion was extraordinary and unusual in comparison with other occupations.
- Whether the workers' compensation court's award of benefits and medical treatment should be sustained.
Holdings
- Rodr did not become a statutory volunteer merely because he volunteered to help with the employer's yard work. The statutory volunteer exclusion did not apply because he was a salaried employee working at his employer's behest on the employer's premises.
- Rodr's myocardial infarction arose out of and occurred in the course of his employment because he was performing a special task at the employer's request for the employer's benefit, rather than pursuing a personal mission.
- The workers' compensation court properly found that Rodr's employment was the major cause of his heart-related injury and that the exertion involved in the yard work was extraordinary and unusual compared with his occupation as a computer programmer.
Key quotations
“The test is whether the work is necessary for the benefit or interest of the employer.” (¶ 7)
“The facts reflect that the claimant was performing a special task for his employer and that his accidental injury arose out of and was within the course of his employment.” (¶ 7)
Factual background
Barton J. Rodr was a full-time computer programmer employed by Yzer, Inc. and/or Funnel Design Group. At the employer's request, he helped perform lawn work at the employer's premises on several Saturdays to improve the grounds for a grand reopening; he was not paid extra for the work, although his thirteen-year-old son was paid for some of it. While reloading the mower and equipment after helping with the yard work, Rodr suffered a myocardial infarction.
Procedural history
The workers' compensation court awarded Rodr benefits after finding that he was not acting as a statutory volunteer and that his myocardial infarction arose out of and in the course of his employment. A three-judge panel unanimously affirmed. The Court of Civil Appeals vacated the award, concluding that the lawn work was unrelated to Rodr's computer-programming employment. The Oklahoma Supreme Court vacated the Court of Civil Appeals' opinion and sustained the workers' compensation award.