ROCHDALE INSURANCE COMPANY v. LLC (2021)

MEMORANDUM ***

Skylar Dixon was injured in a car accident on his way home from work. After Dixon sued his employer for negligence, its workers’ compensation insurer—Rochdale Insurance Company—filed this diversity action, seeking a declaration that Dixon's injuries did not fall within the employer's policy because they did not “arise out of and in the course of his employment.” The district court granted summary judgment to Rochdale. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291. Reviewing de novo, Fitzgerald Living Tr. v. United States, 460 F.3d 1259, 1263 (9th Cir. 2006), we affirm.

The Montana Supreme Court has interpreted the phrase “arise out of and in the course of employment” to cover claims that arise when an employee is providing some “reasonably immediate service to the employer.” Ogren v. Bitterroot Motors, Inc., 222 Mont. 515, 723 P.2d 944, 946 (1986) (quoting Morgan v. Indus. Acc. Bd., 133 Mont. 254, 321 P.2d 232, 236 (1958)). Montana has also adopted the familiar “going-and-coming” rule, which, subject to several, limited exceptions, denies recovery “for injuries sustained by an employee traveling to or from the regular work place.” Ogren, 723 P.2d at 947 (quoting Courser v. Darby Sch. Dist. No. 1, 214 Mont. 13, 692 P.2d 417, 418 (1984)).

Dixon's accident—which happened on his way home, after he clocked out, after the restaurant closed, and four miles from the restaurant—falls squarely within the purview of the going-and-coming rule. See, e.g., Voorhies v. Park Cafe, Inc., 175 Mont. 232, 573 P.2d 202, 204 (1978); Hetland v. Magnum Petroleum, 225 Mont. 389, 733 P.2d 343, 345 (1987); Heath v. Mont. Mun. Ins. Auth., 288 Mont. 463, 959 P.2d 480, 482–85 (1998). None of the exceptions set forth by the Montana Supreme Court to that rule in Hagerman v. Galen State Hospital, 174 Mont. 249, 570 P.2d 893, 894 (1977), apply to this case. See Ogren, 723 P.2d at 947–48. Although Dixon contends that a “special hazard exception” applies, the Montana Supreme Court has not adopted that exception to the going-and-coming rule. See Heath, 959 P.2d at 484 (citing Voorhies, 573 P.2d at 203).

AFFIRMED.