Are benefits recoverable under Workers’ Compensation action when injury occurs on the employers premises, but during a lunch break?
Maryland courts apply the “going and coming rule” which provides that “injuries received by an employee while going to or returning from his place of employment do not arise ‘out of and in the course of’ employment , and therefore are not compensable” under the Workmen’s Compensation Act. Wiley Manufacturing Co. v. Wilson, 280 Md. 200, 206 (1977). The rule is based on the premise that workmen’s compensation law is for injuries incurred by an employee engaged in a service that is growing out of his employment. Id. As such an employee who is going to or coming from work is not rendering services related to his employment and is exposed to hazards as a member of the general public and not as an employee.
There are two generally recognized exceptions to the ‘going and coming rule.’ The first is the ‘premises’ exception and the second is the proximity or special hazard rule. The application of these exceptions turns on the individual facts of each case. Id. at 210.
