Ducey v. Argo Sales Co

In Ducey v. Argo Sales Co. (1979) 25 Cal.3d 707, the job of employee Delores Glass encompassed cleaning model homes in various locations around the San Francisco Bay Area. ( Id. at p. 714.) She carried cleaning supplies in her car from house to house, and occasionally used her car to pick up furnishings for her employer, but there was no evidence that the employer required her to do so. (Ibid.) Moreover, the employer did not reimburse her for commuting expenses or pay her for the time she spent driving to the work sites. (Ibid.) Glass got into an automobile accident while she was returning home from work after performing her job. (Ibid.) The court concluded that the required vehicle exception to the going-and-coming rule did not apply, explaining: "The evidence does not establish as a matter of law that the company required Glass, as a condition of her employment, to commute to work in her personal car. The job was not one that embraced driving, and Glass was not required to use her vehicle for field work. Although there was evidence that she occasionally ran errands for her employer, these trips were not conclusively shown to be a condition of her employment. The jury could reasonably have believed that Glass was acting as a volunteer in running occasional errands for replacement items. She was not engaged in such an errand at the time of the accident. There is no evidence that Glass was required to go from location to location during the day. (Cf. Hinojosa v. Workmen's Comp. Appeals Bd., supra, 8 Cal.3d 150, 161.) Although Glass transported cleaning materials in her car to her place of work, the evidence does not establish as a matter of law that Glass was required to transport that equipment. The employer provided 'ample storage space' and garages at each tract in which cleaning equipment could have been stored. The jury could have found that the taking of equipment home each night was for the personal benefit and convenience of Glass, who worked at other cleaning jobs, and was thus merely incidental to her employment." (Id. at p. 723.)