A South Carolina Supreme Court decision has ruled that under the “divided premises” rule, an employee’s injury is compensable if he or she is traveling between two parts of an employer’s premises. In this blog, our Greenville workers’ compensation attorneys explain the rule in further detail. The state’s ruling comes from a case involving a professor who sustained injuries walking to her car after work. She had been working in the library on campus at the University of South Carolina and in order to get to her car, which was parked in a university lot provided for faculty and students, the professor had to cross the street. She was then struck by a car and sustained injuries. Although the street and crosswalk are not owned by the university, the library and parking lot are part of USC property.
The court found in the case of the USC professor, the divided premises rule is especially warranted. As the employer, the university created the need for the professor to cross a public street. The court also decided that the university cannot take advantage of the benefits that come from providing staff and students a place to park, and then attempt to remove themselves of the responsibilities from the consequences of their decisions.
Misplaced Fears from Respondents
Those who argue the divided premises rule claim that it simply won’t work under workers’ compensation laws. Respondents of the rule are under the assumption that, so long as an employee is traveling between two parts of an employer’s premises, any injuries that occur would be compensable regardless of the reason they were traveling or the route they chose to take. According to the Supreme Court, those fears are misplaced – under workers’ compensation laws, the employee’s injuries must still occur while he or she was fulfilling employment duties in order for those injuries to be eligible for compensation.
If you’ve suffered from a work-related accent, you should not hesitate to contact our trusted Greenville workers’ compensation lawyers. At Christian & Christian we have nearly 100 years of combined experience and have recovered millions of dollars on behalf of our clients.
Call (864) 408-8883 to schedule your free consultation today.