Darco Transportation v. Dulen

In Darco Transportation v. Dulen, 1996 OK 50, 922 P.2d 591, the Court sustained a trial court award of benefits to a truck driver who was injured when the truck he was driving was struck by a train at a railroad crossing where the protective arms allegedly malfunctioned. The Court concluded that result was permissible even if the driver was simultaneously engaged in a sexual act with his passenger, as contended by the employer. In Darco Transportation v. Dulen, the question was whether the horseplay defense would apply because there was controverted evidence the claimant was having sex with the co-driver of his tractor-trailer rig at the time it was hit by a train. The Dulen Court noted, even assuming the claimant was having sex while driving the rig: ,... uncontroverted is the stubborn fact that Dulen, when injured, occupied his assigned work station, the driver's seat behind the steering wheel of Darco's truck. The record offers no proof that Dulen had deviated from or abandoned his master's mission (transporting goods to San Francisco). Dulen, at 596, notes that our jurisprudence "strongly militates" against withholding benefits for misconduct "that plainly falls short of workstation abandonment.". Contrary to assertions regarding causation, the more appropriate question to examine is whether "Claimant's conduct is to deemed horseplay--a complete departure from or abandonment of his employment." Dulen, at 595.