Illinois Appellate Court
Civil Court
Workers' Compensation
Flight attendant, while flying as a passenger on flight from Denver to LaGuardia Airport, injured her knee. She resided in Boulder, CO, but her job duties were exclusively on flights originating out of JFK Airport. She was flying to New York the day prior to her scheduled work on a flight originating from JFK Airport. Airline did not compensate claimant for her time or expenses for commuting to NYC from Colorado. Claimant's decision to use a leisure travel pass to commute from Colorado to NYC did not transform her regular commute into a demand or exigency of her job. Commission ruled correctly in finding that claimant did not qualify as a traveling employee at time of injury.(HOLDRIDGE, HOFFMAN, HUDSON, and HARRIS, concurring.)