An employee traveling on business and stopping for lunch injures themselves at a restaurant. The claim would be:

• A. Not compensable because of the coming and going rule.
• B. Not compensable because the employee was on a lunch break.
• C. Compensable due to the Bunkhouse rule.
• D. Compensable due to the commercial traveler rule.

Answer: (D)

When a worker travels for the employer and has no fixed work location, injuries during ordinary travel or meal stops can still be compensable. This is the commercial traveler rule. In this scenario, the employee is on a business trip and stops for lunch at a restaurant. The injury occurred while the person was still on the job-related journey, not merely during personal time, so it is considered to be within the course of employment. The usual coming-and-going rule—which would exclude injuries on the way to or from a fixed workplace—doesn’t apply here because there isn’t a fixed place of work. The bunkhouse rule would only apply if the injury happened in lodging provided by the employer during travel, which isn’t the case.