VERNELL LITTLES, AS NATURAL MOTHER AND GUARDIAN OF BOBBY LITTLES, JR., DECEASED, APPELLANT,
v.
OSCEOLA FARMS COMPANY, NATIONAL EMPLOYERS COMPANY, AND DIVISION OF WORKERS' COMPENSATION, APPELLEES

Fla. 1st DCA | 1991-03-29
No. 90-985
WIGGINTON, J., and WENTWORTH, Senior Judge, concur.
577 So. 2d 657 Florida District Court of Appeal, First District (1991)

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Synopsis

An employee died from a fatal stabbing by his extramarital girlfriend while temporarily residing at a medical complex for treatment of a compensable industrial hand injury. The court affirmed denial of death benefits, holding the death was not causally related to employment because it arose from personal domestic circumstances unrelated to the work-connected treatment.


Holding

The court held that death benefits were properly denied because the employee's death was not causally related to his employment. The death resulted from a personal domestic dispute unrelated to risks distinctly associated with the medical facility where he was receiving treatment, and did not qualify under either the bunkhouse rule or the personal comfort doctrine.


Headnotes

[1] An injury is not compensable under the bunkhouse rule if the source of the injury is not a risk distinctly associated with the conditions under which the claimant lived.

[2] Injuries arising from purely personal relationships or domestic disputes are generally not considered to be within the scope of employment for workers' compensation purpo…

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Key Quotes

“In order for the bunkhouse rule to apply, it must be shown, among other things, that the source of the injury is "a risk distinctly associated with the conditions under which the claimant lived."”

Establishes the legal standard for applying the bunkhouse rule in workers' compensation cases

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Facts & Procedural History

An employee suffered extensive hand injuries in an industrial accident and was relocated to Jackson Medical Towers in Miami at the employer's expense …

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Opinion of the Court
SMITH, Judge.

SMITH, Judge.

In this appeal of an order denying death benefits, appellant argues that the Judge of Compensation Claims (JCC) erred in finding the employee’s death was due to reasons personal to the employee and hence was not causally related to his employment. We affirm.

The employee suffered extensive hand injuries in an industrial accident. It became necessary for him to move, at employer or carrier’s direction and expense, from his Belle Glades home to the Jackson Medical Towers in Miami in order to receive treatment for his compensable injury. The employee’s wife and son, the appellant, did not stay with him at the complex. The employee developed an amorous relationship with a nursing home chauffeur, Dele-sa Butler, whom the employee met at the office of the treating physician. Butler was not an employee of the treating physician or of the medical complex. Butler stayed with the employee at the complex for extended periods of time, and while the evidence on this point was in dispute, the JCC found that the complex as well as the employer were unaware that Butler was an inhabitant of the employee’s room. During the course of the relationship, Butler gave birth to the employee’s alleged illegitimate child. The evidence discloses that prior to the fatal attack, the employee and Butler were estranged. On May 5, 1988, Butler fatally stabbed the employee in his room at the medical complex following an argument.1 One of the several witnesses of the attack, the complex security guard, testified before the JCC that the employee was demanding that Butler leave his room when he was stabbed. The employee was unarmed, and was not assaulting Butler at the time of her attack. The treating physician testified that the employee had reached MMI prior to his death.

The appellant sought permanent disability as well as death benefits, the latter of which was premised on several theories of recovery. The JCC awarded amputation benefits, but denied death benefits. On appeal, the appellant argues that the JCC erred in finding that the employee’s death is not compensable under the bunkhouse rule, or, alternatively, under the personal comfort doctrine.

In order for the bunkhouse rule to apply, it must be shown, among other things, that the source of the injury is “a risk distinctly associated with the conditions under which the claimant lived.” Mecca Farms, Inc. v. Espino, 414 So. 2d 572, 574 (Fla. 1st DCA 1982). We find no error in the JCC’s findings that the employee’s death resulted from an event that was purely personal to the employee, and a consequence of his domestic or private life. Thus, his unfortunate death from an injury inflicted by Butler was not a risk “distinctly associated” with his stay at the medical facility for treatment of his hand. Id.

Furthermore, while we are unwilling to categorically rule that injuries arising from human companionship could never fall under the personal comfort doctrine,3 we nevertheless have no difficulty in finding that benefits cannot be awarded on this theory under the facts of this case.

The findings made by the judge of compensation claims are adequately supported by competent, substantial evidence. We therefore affirm the order appealed.

AFFIRMED.

WIGGINTON, J., and WENTWORTH, Senior Judge, concur. . The evidence discloses that among those present at the time of the attack was the employee’s second girlfriend, who was also an occupant of employee's room.

. Neither did the employee’s relationship with Butler satisfy the "reasonable activity” test so as to warrant coverage under the "traveling employee” doctrine. Garver v. Eastern Airlines, 553 So. 2d 263 (Fla.1st DCA 1990).

.It should be noted that the appellant has cited no case involving injuries caused by a companion which were deemed compensable under the personal comfort doctrine.


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