Court rejects benefit for official’s widow
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The widow of a former Maringouin police chief is not entitled to worker’s compensation benefits because her husband was not performing any law enforcement duty when he was killed by a drunken driver in West Baton Rouge Parish, a state appeals court said Friday.
A five-judge panel of the 1st Circuit Court of Appeal voted 4-1 to reverse a worker’s compensation judge who ruled that Shirley Lockman is entitled to such benefits because Stanley Lockman was in the “course and scope of his employment’’ at the time of the Dec. 6, 2004, accident.
The panel said Stanley Lockman was on a personal errand outside of his jurisdiction when he was killed.
Shirley Lockman filed for worker’s compensation benefits, including death benefits and funeral expenses, claiming her husband was on call 24 hours a day as police chief and was driving the vehicle provided to him by the town of Maringouin.
The town contended that because Stanley Lockman had no authority to act outside of his own jurisdiction, his act of driving the police car cannot be considered patrolling, as his widow claimed.
The 1st Circuit said the worker’s compensation benefit offered to law enforcement officers is applicable when they are injured, while on or off duty, and outside their jurisdiction but within the state and performing a law enforcement action.
“Mr. Lockman was not performing any law enforcement action at the time of the accident,’’ Circuit Judge Mike McDonald wrote for the panel.
Circuit Judges Page McClendon, Jeff Hughes and Duke Welch joined McDonald. Circuit Judge Jimmy Gaidry dissented.
A five-judge panel of the 1st Circuit Court of Appeal voted 4-1 to reverse a worker’s compensation judge who ruled that Shirley Lockman is entitled to such benefits because Stanley Lockman was in the “course and scope of his employment’’ at the time of the Dec. 6, 2004, accident.
The panel said Stanley Lockman was on a personal errand outside of his jurisdiction when he was killed.
Shirley Lockman filed for worker’s compensation benefits, including death benefits and funeral expenses, claiming her husband was on call 24 hours a day as police chief and was driving the vehicle provided to him by the town of Maringouin.
The town contended that because Stanley Lockman had no authority to act outside of his own jurisdiction, his act of driving the police car cannot be considered patrolling, as his widow claimed.
The 1st Circuit said the worker’s compensation benefit offered to law enforcement officers is applicable when they are injured, while on or off duty, and outside their jurisdiction but within the state and performing a law enforcement action.
“Mr. Lockman was not performing any law enforcement action at the time of the accident,’’ Circuit Judge Mike McDonald wrote for the panel.
Circuit Judges Page McClendon, Jeff Hughes and Duke Welch joined McDonald. Circuit Judge Jimmy Gaidry dissented.
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