Phillis Graham, as surviving spouse of O’Brien Graham, Deceased v. Hospice Savannah, Inc.

Facts

O’Brien Graham was killed when Defendant Keyana Mann hit his motorcycle with her vehicle while on her morning commute into work on Memorial Day of 2021. She had been asked the Friday before if she would work her normal shift on that holiday Monday.

O’Brien’s widow, Phillis, filed suit against Mann for negligence, and her employer, Hospice Savannah, for vicarious liability for Mann’s negligence. The Plaintiff argued that Hospice Savannah was liable because Mann was in the course and scope of her employment while commuting to work.

Hospice Savannah moved for summary judgment on the ground that vicarious liability does not apply while an employee is traveling to/from work. Plaintiff responded by arguing that Mann was on a special mission because she had been asked to come into work on a holiday. Therefore, the Plaintiff argued that the special mission doctrine made Hospice Savannah liable for Mann’s negligence while traveling to work.

Viewed in the light most favorable to the Plaintiff as the non-moving party, the facts showed that Mann worked as a CNA for Hospice Savannah for 30-40 hours a week. She normally worked from 7 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., Monday through Friday. Her work day began at a healthcare facility known as “The Social.” She would report there for her regular shift, and then she would drive to two other Hospice Savannah facilities where she would care for other patients. Hospice Savannah reimbursed Mann for mileage while driving between facilities after her shift began, but it did not provide any reimbursement while driving to The Social to start her workday.

The agreed with Hospice Savannah that Mann was simply commuting to work at the time of the wreck, and she was not on a special mission. As a result, the trial court granted summary judgment to Hospice Savannah. The Plaintiff appealed.

Issues & Holdings

The issue in this case was whether the trial court correctly held Mann was not in the course and scope of her employment at the time of the wreck that killed Plaintiff’s husband.

The Court of Appeals held that the trial court’s decision was correct and affirmed its ruling.

Reasoning

The Court first considered Mann’s role and what it encompassed: she was a CNA who worked full-time for Hospice Savannah. Part of her job was making home visits and seeing patients at multiple different facilities, for which she used her personal vehicle but was reimbursed for mileage when traveling between facilities. The Court specifically noted that she was not reimbursed for any distance traveled on her commute to or from work. Mann’s job description included working on holidays.

Plaintiff’s argument hinged on her claim that there was a genuine issue of material fact as to whether or not Mann was on a special mission for her employer when commuting to work on a holiday.

The court first reviewed the standard for vicarious liability of an employer, which is based on whether or not the employee was acting within the scope of their employment and on the business of the employer at the time of injury. Allen Kane’s Major Dodge v. Barnes, 243 Ga. 776, 777 (1979); see O.C.G.A. § 51-2-2. Georgia cases have generally held that an employee who is traveling to or from work “is not in the course of his employment but rather is engaged in a personal activity.” Mastec N. Am. Inc. v. Sanford, 330 Ga. App. 250, 254 (2014).

An exception to this general rule is the special mission doctrine. The special mission exception applies if an injury occurs when an employee is traveling to perform a “special service or errand” in the interest of, or under the direction of, his employer outside of customary work hours. DMAC81, LLC v. Nguyen, 358 Ga. App. 170, 174 (2021). An important aspect of this exception is that the mission itself must be “special” or “uncustomary” and made at the employer’s specific request. Id.

Graham argued that, because Mann was headed into work on a holiday at the request of Hospice Savannah, there was a genuine issue of fact as to whether or not she was on a special mission. Graham relied primarily on Patterson v. Southeastern Newspapers, Inc., 243 Ga. App. 241 (2000). In Patterson, a delivery person was involved in an accident on his way home after being called into work on short notice outside of his normal hours to fill in for another employee who worked out of a different distribution point.

The Court of Appeals rejected this argument and held that Mann was not engaged in a special mission. The Court distinguished Patterson because the employee in that case was not performing customary work duties and was traveling from a work location that was not his typical location. The Court determined that Mann’s commute at the time of this wreck was distinguishable because she was traveling to work on a Monday, to work at her usual work location, to perform her usual work duties. Therefore, there was nothing special or uncustomary about this occasion.

The Court of Appeals rejected the idea that an employee commuting into work on a holiday could create a special mission exception, especially as to healthcare workers who frequently have to work holidays.

As a result, the Court of Appeals affirmed the grant of summary judgment to Hospice Savannah.

Conclusion

Graham is a good example of a straightforward analysis of respondeat superior liability and the special-mission doctrine. This case demonstrates the fact-specific nature of the inquiry when analyzing claims while an employee is traveling to or from a work location. This case demonstrates that an employee being asked to work on a holiday, by itself, is not enough for the special mission exception to apply. There must be additional facts that show the employee was traveling to/from a location to do, or after doing, something outside of their typical job duties, such as working at a different location than where they usually work or performing different job duties.

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Citation:Phillis Graham, as surviving spouse of O’Brien Graham, Deceased v. Hospice Savannah, Inc., 2023 WL A23A0430 (Ga. Ct. App. June 9, 2023)