Bateman v. Central Foundry Division, General Motors Corp.

822 F. Supp. 556, 1992 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 21641, 1992 WL 475545
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. Indiana
DecidedMarch 9, 1992
DocketNo. NA 90-30-C
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 822 F. Supp. 556 (Bateman v. Central Foundry Division, General Motors Corp.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. Indiana primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Bateman v. Central Foundry Division, General Motors Corp., 822 F. Supp. 556, 1992 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 21641, 1992 WL 475545 (S.D. Ind. 1992).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM ENTRY

NOLAND, District Judge.

I. Factual Background

Central Foundry Division, General Motors Corporation (hereinafter “defendant”), is an industrial facility in Lawrence County, Indiana. Complaint, ¶ 2; Answer, ¶ 2. On April 15, 1988, the defendant hired Jungclaus-Campbell Company, Inc. (hereinafter “Company”) to provide all labor, equipment, material, tools, and services for the installation of a two million dollar ($2,000,-000.00) die cast research and development center at the defendant’s facility. Complaint, ¶ 3, Exh. A Contract, Art. I; Rombalski Dep., pp. 12-13. Pursuant to their contract, by May, 1988, the Company had constructed twenty-three (23) pier holes, approximately ten (10) feet deep. Wilkerson Dep., pp. 21, 59-60; cf., Rombalski Dep., p. 42. All pier holes were kept covered, except a few that the Company employees would work in during the day. Rombalski Dep., p. 47-48.

Rosalee Bateman (hereinafter “plaintiff’) was employed by the Company as a construction laborer. Complaint, ¶ 4; Plaintiffs’ Contentions, ¶3- She and other Company employees had been working on the pier holes for approximately one (1) week, pouring concrete, drilling holes, excavating, and backfilling. Wilkerson Dep., pp. 17-18, 60, 62, 68. On May 31, 1988, the plaintiff fell [560]*560while climbing into a pier hole. Complaint, ¶ 5. She sustained a herniated disk, injured her head, neck and back, has suffered pain and loss of earnings, and is permanently impaired, which will require future medical treatment. Complaint, ¶ 7; Bateman Dep., pp. 40-41. Damages are unspecified. The plaintiff had neither been instructed to use nor provided with a ladder to climb down into or out of the pier holes. Bateman Dep., pp. 34-39. Instead, she used an inch wide metal bracing on the walls of the pier holes as a ladder. Bateman Dep., p. 29-30, 34-35, 41-42, 49-52. The plaintiffs husband, Merrill Bateman, seeks compensation for the loss of his wife’s services and companionship. Complaint, ¶ 8.

II. Jurisdiction

The Court has jurisdiction over citizens of different states, where the matter in controversy exceeds $50,000. 28 U.S.C. § 1332(a)(1). Under the factual background of the present ease, the plaintiffs are citizens of the State of Indiana. The defendant is an unincorporated division of a corporation organized and existing under the laws of the State of Delaware, with its principal place of business in the State of Michigan. Answer, p. 1, ¶ 2; Defendant’s Allegation of Diversity, p. 2. The plaintiffs seek compensation for head and neck injuries, pain and suffering, loss of earnings, and future medical treatment. Complaint, ¶ 7; Plaintiffs’ Contentions, ¶ 5. Thus, the amount in controversy is above fifty thousand dollars ($50,000.00), exclusive of interest and costs. The Court finds that it has jurisdiction to entertain and resolve the present case.

III. Standard of Review

The present ease is now before the Court on the defendant’s Motion for Summary Judgment. Rule 56 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure states in pertinent part that summary judgment shall be granted forthwith if the pleadings and affidavits “show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.” Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c). Under this standard, “the mere existence of some alleged factual dispute between the parties will not defeat an otherwise properly supported motion for summary judgment; the requirement is that there be no genuine issue of material fact.” Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 248-49, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 2510, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986). The purposes of Rule 56 are to “prevent vexation and delay, improve the machinery of justice, promote the expeditious disposition of cases, and avoid unnecessary trials when no genuine issues of fact have been raised.” 10 Wright, Miller & Kane, Fed.Civ.Prac. and Proc., Civil, § 2712, pp. 564-67 (1983).

In determining whether a genuine issue of material fact exists, the district Court must view the record and all reasonable inferences drawn therefrom in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party. Spring v. Sheboygan Area School District, 865 F.2d 883, 886 (7th Cir.1989). At the summary judgment stage, the trial Court’s function is not “to weigh the evidence and determine the truth of the matter but to determine whether there is a genuine issue for trial.” Anderson, 477 U.S. at 249, 106 S.Ct. at 2511. “A genuine issue of material fact exists only where ‘there is sufficient evidence favoring the nonmoving party for a jury to return a verdict for that party.’ ” Wolf v. City of Fitchburg, 870 F.2d 1327, 1329 (7th Cir.1989) (quoting Anderson, 477 U.S. at 249, 106 S.Ct. at 2511). Summary judgment may be granted if the evidence favoring the nonmoving party “is merely colorable or is not significantly probative.” Anderson, 477 U.S. at 249-50, 106 S.Ct. at 2511 (citation omitted).

Rule 56(e) itself provides that a party opposing a properly supported motion for summary judgment may not rest upon mere allegation or denials of his pleading, but must set forth specific facts showing that there is a genuine issue for trial.... [T]he plaintiff must present affirmative evidence in order to defeat a properly supported motion for summary judgment.

Anderson, 477 U.S. at 256-257, 106 S.Ct. at 2514.

Thus, the summary judgment inquiry addresses “whether the evidence presents sufficient disagreement to require sub[561]*561mission to a jury or whether it is so one-sided that' one party must prevail as a matter of law.” Anderson, 477 U.S. at 251-52, 106 S.Ct. at 2512. If the case requires weighing the credibility of witnesses or the material facts in question, summary judgment is not appropriate. United Association of Black Landscapers v. City of Milwaukee, 916 F.2d 1261, 1265-66 (7th Cir.1990). In making this inquiry, the trial Court “should neither ‘look the other way’ to ignore genuine issues of material fact, nor ‘strain to find’ material fact issues when there are none.” Secretary of Labor v. Lauritzen, 835 F.2d 1529, 1534 (7th Cir.1987), cert. den. sub nom, 488 U.S. 898, 109 S.Ct. 243, 102 L.Ed.2d 232 (1988) (quoting Mintz v. Mathers Fund, Inc., 463 F.2d 495, 498 (7th Cir.1972)).

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822 F. Supp. 556, 1992 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 21641, 1992 WL 475545, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/bateman-v-central-foundry-division-general-motors-corp-insd-1992.