DAVITA, INC.; NEW HAMPSHIRE INSURANCE COMPANY, administered by BROADSPIRE, YVETTE CASAREZ, WORKERS’ COMPENSATION APPEALS BOARDSTATE OF CALIFORNIAYVETTE CASAREZ, Applicant,vs.DAVITA, INC.; NEW HAMPSHIRE INSURANCE COMPANY, administered by BROADSPIRE, Defendants.Case No. ADJ278138 (SBR 0342170)OPINION AND ORDER DENYING RECONSIDERATION Defendant seeks reconsideration of the May 18, 2009 Finding of Fact and Award of the workers’ compensation administrative law judge (WCJ) who found that applicant “sustained injuries on December 18, 2007 which arose out of and in the course of her employment” when her husband lost control of the truck in which she was a passenger, causing the vehicle to strike the center divider and roll over several times. Defendant contends that the evidence does not support a finding that applicant was injured in the course of performing duties arising out of and in the course of her employment. An’ answer was received. We deny reconsideration and affirm the decision of the WCJ. Applicant was injured while traveling to a shopping center to purchase food and gifts for a holiday party for co-workers to be held at the employer’s office the following day. The employer condoned and supported such social events among its employees in order to promote team building. For these reasons, the WCJ correctly concluded that applicant was injured in the course of performing a work-related duty that benefited the employer. Applicant worked as a scheduler for Davita, Inc. (Davita), a company that schedules , dialysis nurses for several medical providers. During the daytime she worked in an office with other schedulers who performed the same duties covering different geographic areas. It was. desirable for the schedulers to work together in order to efficiently coordinate the scheduling of the dialysis nurses among their different areas. The employer encouraged the employees to engage in group activities in order
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