At the request of his former manager, Thomas Shane Harrison agreed to work an unscheduled early morning shift at a Winn Dixie in Buford. He was injured in an automobile collision while en route from his previous shift at a Winn Dixie in Chamblee. Harrison sought payment of workers’ compensation benefits from his employer, Winn Dixie Stores, Inc. Following a hearing, the Administrative Law Judge ALJ of the Workers’ Compensation Board ruled that Harrison was not entitled to benefits because the accident did not arise out of and in the course of his employment. The Appellate Division of the Board affirmed and adopted the award of the ALJ. Harrison appealed to the Dekalb County Superior Court, which affirmed the award of the Appellate Division. Following our grant of his application for discretionary appeal, Harrison appeals the order of the superior court. For reasons which follow, we affirm.
Viewed in a light most favorable to the ALJ’s ruling, the record shows that, at the time of the collision, Winn Dixie employed Harrison as a junior assistant manager at its Chamblee store. On June 22, 1997, while he was working at the Chamblee store, Harrison received a telephone call from his former manager, Brent Wheeler, who was the manager of the Winn Dixie store in Buford. Wheeler needed both a junior assistant and grocery manager, and he asked Harrison to come work at the Buford store after Harrison completed his shift at the Chamblee location. Harrison clocked out of the Chamblee store at approximately 1:30 a.m. He testified that he intended to drive straight to the Buford store, although he also admitted that he could have stopped to eat before reporting. Harrison was only a few blocks away from the Chamblee store when he was struck by another car and severely injured. Had Harrison arrived safely at the Buford location, he would have needed to clock in before commencing work, and would have been given a new badge number, clock number and employee file to reflect his work at the Buford store. Nevertheless, the record is clear that the employer—Winn Dixie—was the same at both the Chamblee and Buford locations.
