DONALD JACOB (DEC'D), Applicant

JD PRINTING, Employer

AMERICAN STATES INS CO, Insurer

An administrative law judge (ALJ) for the Worker's Compensation Division of the Department of Workforce Development issued a decision in this matter. A timely petition for review was filed.

The commission has considered the petition and has reviewed the evidence submitted. Based on its review, the commission agrees with the decision of the ALJ, and it adopts the findings and order in that decision as its own.

The findings and order of the administrative law judge are affirmed. The application is dismissed.

Dated and mailed August 11, 2004
jacobdo . wsd : 185 : 8  ND  § 3.25

/s/ James T. Flynn, Chairman

/s/ David B. Falstad, Commissioner

/s/ Robert Glaser, Commissioner

The facts of record lead to the inference that the applicant had deviated from any business purpose when he lost his life in the vehicular crash on Hwy. 83. He told his wife before he left his office shortly after 1 p.m. on March 26, 2001, that he planned to visit three or four customers that afternoon, three of whom were located in Racine and one of whom was located in nearby Sturtevant. He also had a doctor's appointment scheduled for 4:30 p.m. in Racine. No business purpose was demonstrated for the applicant to have been driving so far west of Racine as he was driving that afternoon. The erratic manner in which he was observed driving, and the fact that he was involved in a hit-and-run incident just prior to the fatal crash, strengthen the inference that he had deviated from the course of his employment. The evidence presented rebuts the presumption of coverage for a traveling employee.

cc:
Attorney Thomas M. Domer
Attorney Joseph Berger
Jennifer Lattis
Abby Butler

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uploaded 2004/08/16