NOT FOR PUBLICATION WITHOUT THE

APPROVAL OF THE APPELLATE DIVISION

SUPERIOR COURT OF NEW JERSEY

APPELLATE DIVISION

DOCKET NO. A-4459-06T24459-06T2

ARLENE GERSH,

Petitioner-Respondent,

v.

RICHARD GERSH & ASSOCIATES,

INC.,

Respondent-Appellant,

HANOVER INSURANCE COMPANY,

Respondent/Intervenor-

Respondent.

RICHARD B. GERSH,

Petitioner-Respondent,

v.

RICHARD B. GERSH & ASSOCIATES,

INC.,

Respondent-Appellant.

Argued February 13, 2008 - Decided

Before Judges Winkelstein and Yannotti.

On appeal from the New Jersey Department of Labor, Division of Workers' Compensation, 2005-21950, 2006-1593.

Peter Ventrice argued the cause for appellant (Brause, Brause & Ventrice, attorneys; Randolph Brause, on the brief).

Brian R. Lehrer argued the cause for respondents (Schenck, Price, Smith & King, attorneys; Mr. Lehrer, on the brief).

Richard M. Pescatore argued the cause for Intervenor-Respondent, Hanover Insurance Company.

PER CURIAM

In this workers' compensation case, the question is whether an accident occurring during an off-site working lunch between two married co-workers is compensable. The compensation judge found that the accident was compensable, and the workers' compensation carrier, in the name of its insured, Richard Gersh & Associates, Inc. (Gersh Associates), has appealed. We affirm.

Richard Gersh, husband of the decedent, Arlene Gersh, is an employee of Gersh Associates, a public relations firm. At the time of her death, Mrs. Gersh was the secretary and office administrator for Gersh Associates, in charge of visual material, editing and writing copy, accounting and billing.

On the morning of the accident, June 7, 2005, Mr. Gersh attended a meeting in New York. Upon returning to the office, he took Mrs. Gersh, the only other company employee, to lunch. They planned to discuss the meeting, away from the phones and email. Mr. Gersh intended to inform Mrs. Gersh about the details of the meeting to get her opinion, and so she could prepare a paper for the firm.

They drove from the business office to lunch. Mr. Gersh parked the car at a parking meter, but because they did not have change for the meter, Mrs. Gersh ran across the street to get change at the bank. She was struck by a car and remained hospitalized for several months before she died on November 25, 2005.

Following the accident, Mrs. Gersh filed a workers' compensation claim against Gersh Associates, claiming that she was injured in the course of her employment. She subsequently filed a motion for temporary disability and medical benefits. Hanover Insurance Company was given leave to intervene to seek reimbursement of PIP benefits that it paid to Mrs. Gersh arising out of the accident. After Mrs. Gersh died, Mr. Gersh filed a dependency claim petition.

At trial, Mr. Gersh, the only witness, testified that he and Mrs. Gersh typically had working lunches two or three times a week. They billed their clients for the time spent at the lunches discussing business. Mr. Gersh supported his testimony with his credit card statement, which showed a number of bills from working lunches that he had had with Mrs. Gersh outside of the office.

Following the trial, the workers' compensation judge ordered appellant to pay: $9480 in temporary disability benefits; a $253,846 PIP lien to Hanover; a $59,341 Medicare lien as of the date of the decision; and counsel fees. The court entered judgment in favor of Mr. Gersh on his dependency claim and awarded him dependency benefits of $189,000, plus $3500 in funeral expenses, and counsel fees. In arriving at his decision, the trial judge found Mr. Gersh to be "eminently credible."

On appeal, our review is limited. The decision of an administrative agency is given substantial deference if "'the findings made could reasonably have been reached on sufficient credible evidence present in the record[.]'" Close v. Kordulak Bros., 44 N.J. 589, 599 (1965) (quoting State v. Johnson, 42 N.J. 146, 162 (1964)). The "factual findings and legal conclusions of the [compensation] judge [should not be disturbed] unless they are 'manifestly unsupported by or inconsistent with competent, relevant and reasonably credible evidence as to offend the interests of justice.'" Perez v. Monmouth Cable Vision, 278 N.J. Super. 275, 282 (App. Div. 1994) (quoting Rova Farms Resort, Inc. v. Investors Ins. Co. of Am., 65 N.J. 474, 484 (1974)), certif. denied, 140 N.J. 277 (1995).

Under N.J.S.A. 34:15-7, an accident is compensable if it occurs "in the course of employment" and "aris[es] out of" employment. The "course of employment" component concerns "'the time, place, and circumstances of the accident in relation to the employment[,]'" and "arising out of" refers to the causal relationship between employment and the accident. Coleman v. Cycle Transformer Corp., 105 N.J. 285, 288 (1986) (quoting A. Larson, Workmen's Compensation Law,