Case name: Grissom v Midwest Lodging Super 8 Motel,
12 ILWCLB 5 (Ill.Ind.Comm.2004).
Ruling: The
Commission awarded benefits to motel housekeeper who slipped and fell on ice her
employer's parking lot
while walking to work.
What it means: An
employer's icy parking
lot exposes an employee to an increased risk of injury, where the employee must
traverse the icy lot in order to get to work, unlike guests who may exit their
vehicles under a covered overhang in front of the motel entrance.
Summary: The claimant, a motel housekeeper, rode a
bus to work. On the day of the accident, snow was on the ground. When she
reached her employer's
parking lot, she saw that the snow had been scraped away, but there remained a
layer of ice on the lot. The claimant
was required to cross the icy parking lot, which she described as very slick
and difficult. Just before reaching the
clear sidewalk in front of the motel, the claimant slipped and fell. The
Commission awarded benefits. Relying on
Bommarito v. Industrial Commission,
the Commission found that the claimant was exposed to an increased risk of
injury.
Evidence indicated that the employer did not share its
parking lot with any other businesses and had exclusive control over the
lot. Also, when the claimant arrived at
work in the mornings, only the main entrance door was open. In front of the main entrance, there was an
overhang with a driveway that was clear of ice and snow. A sidewalk traversed
most of the front of the motel.
The Commission went on to distinguish the Appellate Court of
Illinois' decision in Wal-Mart v. Industrial Commission, cited
by the defendant. Unlike the facts in
the Wal-Mart, the instant claimant
was close to the only available entrance to work, she was on her way to work,
she was not leaving work to go to a friend's
car, and the accident was undisputed.
