Aloha Pools & Spas, Inc. v. Employer's Insurance

39 S.W.3d 440, 342 Ark. 398, 2000 Ark. LEXIS 484
CourtSupreme Court of Arkansas
DecidedOctober 18, 2000
Docket99-1310
StatusPublished
Cited by24 cases

This text of 39 S.W.3d 440 (Aloha Pools & Spas, Inc. v. Employer's Insurance) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Arkansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Aloha Pools & Spas, Inc. v. Employer's Insurance, 39 S.W.3d 440, 342 Ark. 398, 2000 Ark. LEXIS 484 (Ark. 2000).

Opinions

Ray Thornton, Justice.

Appellant Aloha Pools & Spas, Inc., brings this appeal of the trial court’s decision in favor of its workers’ compensation coverage carrier, Employer’s Insurance of Wausau, holding Aloha liable for unpaid premiums for policies of workers’ compensation coverage for certain subcontractors who did not have employees of their own and for whom certificates of noncoverage or proof of coverage were not obtained. Appellant contends that the trial court erroneously interpreted the applicable statute as requiring all such subcontractors to be deemed employees for purposes of determining premiums to be paid for workers’ compensation coverage. We agree and reverse and remand for further findings by the trial court, consistent with this opinion and the stipulations of the parties.

The premiums at issue covered policies written and issued to Aloha for the periods of January 28, 1994, through April 19, 1995. For each policy period, Aloha was charged an estimated premium on the effective date of the policy; then, during each policy year, Wausau conducted an audit to determine the amount of the final premium. The audits for the two policy periods resulted in an upward adjustment of the premium based on additional risks allegedly posed by Aloha’s business. Wausau filed suit in the Pulaski County Circuit Court seeking recovery of unpaid premiums. Aloha filed a counterclaim, alleging that it had overpaid premiums for workers’ compensation insurance due to errors made by Wausau in calculating the premiums. Specifically, Aloha contended that Wausau mis-classified the vast majority of those persons providing services to Aloha as being employees, thereby resulting in excessive premiums for workers’ compensation for individuals who were not employees of Aloha.

Wausau filed a motion for partial summary judgment, contending that Aloha was a prime contractor who associated with a number of subcontractors to perform work pursuant to contracts between Aloha and its customers and that Aloha had no proof that these subcontractors had insurance or certificates of noncoverage. Wausau contended that in the absence of such proof, it was liable for injuries to Aloha’s subcontractors because they were deemed employees under the Workers’ Compensation Act. Aloha responded that Wausau was not entitled to charge premiums for those subcontractors because they were not Aloha’s employees.

Prior to the trial court’s determination of the motion for partial summary judgment, the parties stipulated to the following facts: That it was undisputed that Aloha owed Wausau the sum of $4,638.75, for premiums earned and unpaid; that there remained in dispute the sum of $50,136.00, the sum that would be due Wausau if it were entitled to charge a premium for subcontractors who were sole proprietors or partners and had not furnished the prime contractor a certificate of noncoverage, and the only remaining issue was whether the subcontractors who are sole proprietors or partners were deemed to be employees of the prime contractor as a result of their failure to provide a certificate of noncoverage to the prime contractor. It was further stipulated that if Wausau was entitled to charge a premium for subcontractors who were sole proprietors or partners and had not furnished a certificate of noncoverage, Wausau would be entitled to judgment against Aloha in the amount of $54,774.75; and that if Wausau was not entitled to charge a premium for subcontractors who were sole proprietors or partners and who had not furnished a certificate of noncoverage, Wausau was entitled to judgment against Aloha in the amount of $4,638.75.

At the hearing on the summary-judgment motion, the parties further agreed to these facts: That a number of Aloha’s subcontractors are sole proprietors or partnerships; that these subcontractors do not employ workers but do the work themselves; that these subcontractors did not secure workers’ compensation coverage for themselves; and that these subcontractors did not provide Aloha, their prime contractor, with certificates of noncoverage. The issue presented for the trial court’s resolution was whether Ark. Code Ann. § 11-9-402 (Repl. 1996) required that these subcontractors be “deemed employees” of the prime contractor for purposes of workers’ compensation insurance coverage. The trial court found that subcontractors who are sole proprietors or partners and fail to provide their prime contractor with a certificate of noncoverage are deemed employees of the prime, and granted Wausau’s motion for summary judgment. Based upon the resolution of the summary-judgment motion and the stipulations of the parties, the trial court entered judgment in favor of Wausau in the amount of $54,774.75. An appeal of the entry of judgment followed, and this court accepted jurisdiction to decide the issue because of the first impression question of interpretation of the statute.

Summary judgment is an extreme remedy that should only be allowed when it is clear that there is no issue of fact to be litigated. Franklin v. Osca, Inc., 308 Ark. 409, 825 S.W.2d 812 (1992). A summary judgment should only be granted when the state of the evidence as portrayed by the pleadings, affidavits, discovery responses, and admissions on file is such that the nonmoving party is not entitled to a day in court, i. e., when there is not any genuine remaining issue of material fact and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Wallace v. Broyles, 332 Ark. 189, 961 S.W.2d 712 (1998). Normally, on a summary-judgment appeal, the evidence is viewed most favorably for the party resisting the motion and any doubts and inferences are resolved against the moving party, but in a case where the parties agree on the facts, the appellate court simply determines whether the appellee was entitled to a judgment as a matter of law. City of Little Rock v. Pfeifer, 318 Ark. 679, 887 S.W.2d 296 (1994).

We have held that issues of statutory construction are reviewed de novo on appeal, and it is for the appellate court to determine the meaning of a statute. Hodges v. Huckabee, 338 Ark. 454, 995 S.W.2d 341 (1999). The appellate court is not bound by the trial court’s interpretation, but in the absence of a showing that the trial court misinterpreted the law, the trial court’s interpretation will be accepted as correct. Id. This case involves a first-impression interpretation of a statute. The basic rule of statutory construction is to give effect to the intent of the Legislature. Ford v. Keith, 338 Ark. 487, 996 S.W.2d 20 (1999). The Workers’ Compensation Law must be strictly and literally construed by the Commission and the courts, and a particular provision in a statute must be construed with reference to the statute as a whole. Flowers v. Norman Oaks Constr. Co., 341 Ark. 474, 17 S.W. 3d 472 (2000). Where the language of a statute is plain and unambiguous, we determine legislative intent from the ordinary meaning of the language used. Id. The first rule in considering the meaning of a statute is to construe it just as it reads, giving the words their ordinary and usually accepted meaning in common language.

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Bluebook (online)
39 S.W.3d 440, 342 Ark. 398, 2000 Ark. LEXIS 484, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/aloha-pools-spas-inc-v-employers-insurance-ark-2000.