Commonwealth Court Affirms Denial of Claim Petition Based on Course and Scope of MVA
In Waronsky v. WCAB (Mellon Bank), 367 C.D. 2008, October 22, 2008), the Commonwealth Court affirmed the denial of a claim petition by a claimant because it found that the workers' compensation judge correctly determined that the claimant was not in the course and scope of her employment when she was struck by a car as she was crossing the street from the employer-owned parking garage to the employer's office. This was reached even though the employer encouraged its employees to park in its garage and the employer had a voluntary transportation program that permitted the claimant to pay for parking with pre-tax earnings.
The claimant in this case was determined not to be in the course and scope of her employment because she was not required to park in the employer's garage, and the employer did not issue parking directives or exercise control over the mode of transportation that the claimant chose to get to work. The claimant was free to park her car where she chose. Also, the area where the employer operated did not ban on-street parking, so there was no necessity for the claimant to park in the garage.
