Bah v. Everlast Logistics, LLC

297 F. Supp. 3d 426
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. Illinois
DecidedMarch 26, 2018
Docket14 Civ. 1393 (RWS)
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 297 F. Supp. 3d 426 (Bah v. Everlast Logistics, LLC) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Bah v. Everlast Logistics, LLC, 297 F. Supp. 3d 426 (S.D. Ill. 2018).

Opinion

Sweet, D.J.

Defendant Grespania S.A. ("Grespania" or the "Defendant") has moved pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 56 for *428summary judgment to dismiss the complaint (the "Complaint") filed by Plaintiff Thierno Bah ("Bah" or the "Plaintiff"). This is a personal injury action arising from a workplace accident that occurred on April 11, 2013. Based on the facts and conclusions set forth below, Defendant's motion for summary judgment is granted, and the Complaint is dismissed with prejudice.

I. Prior Proceedings

Plaintiff commenced this action in the Supreme Court, County of the Bronx on November 11, 2016. Plaintiff alleges that he suffered personal injuries arising out of an accident that occurred on April 11, 2013 as he unloaded boxed tiles from a shipping container alleged to have been negligently loaded by Grespania (the "Container"). The action was removed to this Court on March 3, 2014. (See Dkt. No. 2.) Plaintiff filed a first amended complaint on December 12, 2014, (see Dkt. No. 15), and a second amended complaint on February 10, 2016, (see Dkt. No. 38). Meanwhile, discovery proceeded.

Grespania's instant motion for summary judgment was heard and marked fully submitted on February 7, 2018.

II. The Facts

The facts have been set forth in Defendant's Local Rule 56.1 Statement, (see Dkt. No. 74) and Plaintiff's Local Rule 56.1 Statement, (see Dkt. No. 67) and are not in dispute except as noted below.

Defendant Grespania is a manufacturer of ceramic tiles, based in Spain, which sells its products internationally, including in the United States. Defendant loads approximately 3,640 shipping containers per year, and uses the same practice and procedure to load all containers, as described below (the "Procedure"). Plaintiff denies that the Container he was unloading on April 11, 2013 was so loaded.

To begin, customers' purchase orders are sent to Defendant's "area manager" and his administrative assistant. Once the purchase order is received, a document called a "commercial pro forma" is created and sent to the client for confirmation. After the client confirms the order, the client also confirms which transportation company it will use. Upon confirmation of all details, Grespania's cargo procedure is initiated, and a cargo order is sent to Grespania's warehouses and assigned to warehouse personnel who prepare the order for pick-up. Defendant has two warehouses-one in Castellon, Spain, which stocks floor tiles (the "Castellon Warehouse"), and a second in Nules, Spain, which stocks wall tiles (the "Nules Warehouse").

When Grespania receives an order for a U.S. customer, the requested product is taken from one or both warehouses; the product is not specifically manufactured for the customer. Grespania's goods are palletized at Grespania's warehouses. Defendant's entire process of palletizing its products has been automatic since the late 1980s. The machines used today have been in use since 2008. The goods are loaded onto pallets by an automatic packing machine called "Falcon," produced by the company System Ceramics.

Next, pursuant to its Procedure, Grespania applies anywhere between four and eight plastic belts on each pallet to keep the boxes of tiles affixed to the pallets. If a plastic belt is applied with insufficient pressure, or if there is a box that is not aligned, an alarm rings and the production line is halted until the non-conformity is corrected. Grespania uses plastic shrink wrapping technology at both of its warehouses, although the method of application differs. At the Castellon Warehouse, the plastic shrink wrap is applied as a bag, and then a machine circles the pallet while *429shrinking it down. At the Nules Warehouse, the plastic shrink wrap is applied in sheets to the pallets in a tunnel system.

Once a particular order is ready, an independent truck driver, selected by the customer, brings an empty shipping container to Grespania's warehouse and opens the container. Shipping containers are of standardized dimensions, generally coming in lengths of 20 or 40 feet. The width and height of these containers is always the same. Pursuant to its Procedure, Grespania loads its containers so that pallets are as low to the ground and as evenly distributed as possible to minimize the possibility of damage to cargo should any of the contents shift or fall during transport.

Next, warehouse workers load pallets onto each container using a "Hyster model H2.5FT" forklift. Grespania requires that its workers receive training and licensing prior to being allowed to operate forklifts. According to the Procedure, stacks of pallets are placed against the walls of the container such that a walkway wide enough for workers to navigate within the containers remains between the pallet stacks. Workers use this walkway to allocate airbags throughout the container. The warehouse manager then ensures that the cargo is properly loaded and secured in the containers.

Next, the truck driver seals the container, and the loaded truck is weighed on a scale. The truck driver verifies a document called the "albaran," or "new cargo confirmation," and Grespania creates a "bill of lading" document. Grespania's palletization, warehousing, and cargo loading process is subject to regular audits and is certified by the International Organization for Standardization ("ISO"). Grespania was ISO certified during the time period covering the underlying incident.

Once the container is sealed and taken by the customer's chosen trucking company, Grespania has no further control over it. Grespania maintains no practice or custom of instructing, inspecting, approving, supervising, or even inquiring about the container unloading practices of its customers. As such, Grespania generally assumes that its customers know how to competently unload their containers.

Plaintiff was employed by Quality Tile Corporation in Bronx, New York, as a warehouse worker for approximately one year at the time of the alleged April 11, 2013 accident. He did not receive any training, written materials, or instructions on how to unload containers during that time. Quality Tile did not have a loading dock or any ramps for loading/unloading shipping containers. In order to unload containers, Quality Tile's workers place a pallet jack under the bottom-most pallet in a stack, jack it up off the floor, and then connect a cord from the handle of the pallet jack to the forklift. The forklift operator then backs up the forklift to drag the pallet jack carrying the stack of pallets to the container opening. The pallets are then removed by the forklift at the edge of the container-first lifting off one pallet, and then the remaining two pallets.

Plaintiff's only role in unloading the Container was to insert the pallet jack under a stack of pallets, to jack the load up and off the ground, to attach the cord running from the forklift to the pallet jack, and then to get out of the way of the forklift operator. This was the only 'procedure' for unloading a container that Plaintiff knew. Plaintiff and his coworker, friend, and fellow countryman Diallo were aware that their work was dangerous, and that regularly conversed with each other about the dangers of their job and warned each other to be careful prior to the accident.

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Bluebook (online)
297 F. Supp. 3d 426, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/bah-v-everlast-logistics-llc-ilsd-2018.