A case out of Ohio looks the state’s “coming and going rule”, which provides some exceptions to the usual standards. There is a zone of employment exception, where the employer’s premises include areas where the employer has control of the conditions and the employee has no option but to utilize that area.

In this case a worker fell in the walkway between a parking lot and their place of employment, and even though their employer provided them a parking pass for that lot they were not required to park there. The court ruled that the going and coming rule was in place and the employee was not eligible for compensation.

Louis Parrish worked as a guest services representative for the Cavaliers, working at the Quicken Loans Arena. On January 29, 2013 he was walking to the arena and slipped an fell in the enclosed indoor walkway connecting the arena to the Tower City building, injuring himself. His employer provided him with a parking pass that let him park for free in the parking lot in Tower City.

He applied for workers’ compensation but was denied. He appealed, saying that the zone of employment and totality of the circumstances exceptions allowed him to claim benefits. Ohio generally requires that the worker demonstrate that their injury occurred in the course of employment and arises out of employment. The court ruled that the zone of employment exception was not valid because the employer didn’t have control over the lot, it was a public lot, and they did not mandate that their employees park there. The walkway he fell in was not the sole route of access to get to his place of employment. The totality of circumstances exception would establish a connection between his injury and his employment based on the totality of the circumstances surrounding his fall. Though the court agreed that the proximity of the incident to his place of employment was significant, the walkway still was not owned or maintained by his employer and they did not benefit from Parrish being there, so this exception was not valid either.

Read the case here.