Lanz

INTRODUCTION

This original proceeding concerns a claim for workers’ compensation benefits by the dependents of a correctional officer killed in an automobile accident while driving home from work. Before his normal commute home, the lieutenant was held over from his scheduled shift and required to work the next shift as the prison’s watch commander. The issue presented is whether, at the time of the accident, the lieutenant was “acting within the course of his … employment” for purposes of Labor Code section 3600, subdivision (a)(2). The application of the statutory language to the facts of this case is guided by the often-maligned “going and coming rule” and its “special mission” exception. Under the rule and its exception, travel to and from work ordinarily is not considered within the course of employment, but travel undertaken as part of a special mission is. Here, petitioners contend that the mandatory hold-over shift as watch commander was a special mission that included the travel home. The special mission exception requires the activity undertaken by the employee be extraordinary in relation to his or her routine duties. Whether an activity is extraordinary is based…