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Patricia Mulready v. University Research Corporation, et al., No. 6119, September Term, 1998

_________________________________________________________________ WORKERS COMP. -- Klein v. Terra Chemicals, 14 Md. App. 172 (1972), reaffirmed. An employee attending an out of town seminar on behalf of her employer who was directed to stay in a particular hotel and who was injured when she slipped in a bathtub was not entitled to compensation because injury did not arise out of employment.

REPORTED IN THE COURT OF SPECIAL APPEALS OF MARYLAND No. 6119 September Term, 1998

PATRICIA MULREADY

v.

UNIVERSITY RESEARCH CORPORATION et al.

Wenner, Eyler, Getty, James S. (Ret., specially assigned), JJ. Opinion by Eyler, J. Filed: October 1, 1999

Patricia Mulready, claimant and appellant, appeals from the grant of summary judgment in a workers' compensation action by the Circuit Court for Montgomery County in favor of University Research Corporation and Hartford Underwriters Insurance Company, employer and insurer, appellees. The parties have proceeded on

an Agreed Statement of Facts as follows: On May 31, 1995, the Appellant was attending a seminar in Canada on behalf of the Appellee, University Research Corporation. On that date at about 9:00 a.m., she stepped in a bathtub at the hotel in which she was staying, and slipped and sustained injuries. The Appellant was a dissemination coordinator, and worked long hours at the seminar in this position. The hotel was selected by the Employer, and she was directed by the Employer to be at that particular hotel. On May 31, 1995, there was a meeting at 10:00 a.m. to be attended by a number of people in close quarters in a conference room. The Appellant was to take an active part in the meeting. She got up early that morning, and was working on her preparation for the meeting. At 9:00 a.m. in order to be presentable, she went to take a shower, and slipped in the bathtub. At her home in Silver Spring, Maryland there is a bath mat to prevent slippage, a ceramic soap dish in the wall and a ceramic towel rack to grab onto. The bathtub which she stepped into in this hotel was slippery and did not have the ceramic soap dish and ceramic towel rack or other items she could grab onto, nor did it have a bath mat or sandy strips to prevent slippage. The Workers' Compensation Commission in an Order of April 30, 1998, found the -1-

Claimant sustained an accidental injury arising out of the course of her employment. That decision was appealed to the Circuit Court for Montgomery County, Civil 186313 by the Appellees, and both parties moved for a summary judgment. After argument, the Circuit Court for Montgomery County, The Honorable Durke Thompson, in an Order dated November 25, 1998, granted the Motion by the Appellees for Summary Judgment and denied the Appellant's Motion for Summary Judgment. Question Presented Whether the lower court erred in granting Summary Judgment in favor of the Appellees and denying Summary Judgment in favor of the employee on stipulated undisputed facts, thereby denying compensability for injuries sustained by the employee on the premises of the hotel while on business for her employer. Discussion An employee is entitled to compensation as the result of an accidental injury that arises out of and in the course of employment. See Md. Code, Labor & Employment

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