Benson-Jones v. Sysco Food Services of Atlanta, LLC

651 S.E.2d 839, 287 Ga. App. 579, 26 I.E.R. Cas. (BNA) 1387, 2007 Fulton County D. Rep. 2973, 2007 Ga. App. LEXIS 1028
CourtCourt of Appeals of Georgia
DecidedSeptember 17, 2007
DocketA07A1971
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 651 S.E.2d 839 (Benson-Jones v. Sysco Food Services of Atlanta, LLC) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Georgia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Benson-Jones v. Sysco Food Services of Atlanta, LLC, 651 S.E.2d 839, 287 Ga. App. 579, 26 I.E.R. Cas. (BNA) 1387, 2007 Fulton County D. Rep. 2973, 2007 Ga. App. LEXIS 1028 (Ga. Ct. App. 2007).

Opinion

JOHNSON, Presiding Judge.

Frieda Benson-Jones sued Sysco Food Services of Atlanta, LLC, among others, for the wrongful death of her 15-year-old son, Antonio Benson, who was fatally injured while operating a forklift in a Sysco warehouse.1 The trial court granted Sysco’s motion for summary judgment. Benson-Jones appeals, arguing that the trial court erred because a jury could conclude that (i) Sysco was negligent per se because it violated child labor laws and regulations intended to protect her son, (ii) Sysco was negligent in permitting a minor under 16 to work in its warehouse, (iii) Sysco’s independent contractor was negligent, and the contractor’s negligence was imputable to Sysco, and (iv) Sysco was liable under principles of premises liability. For the reasons that follow, we disagree and affirm.

“To prevail at summary judgment, the moving party must demonstrate that there is no genuine issue of material fact and that the undisputed facts, viewed in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party, warrant judgment as a matter of law.”2 Our review is de novo.3

So viewed, the evidence shows the following. Sysco owned and operated a warehouse in College Park. Sysco contracted with Johnny [580]*580L. Bunton, Jr. d/b/a Kaylex Company4 (“Kaylex”) to provide unloading services at the warehouse. The contract provided that Kaylex was an independent contractor with the exclusive right to control its own activities with respect to “hours, times, terms of employment, etc.” Sysco retained the right to exclude Kaylex freight handlers from its premises or to require Kaylex to substitute personnel working on its premises, but Kaylex retained the exclusive right to hire and discharge its employees. Among other things, Kaylex agreed to fully comply with all applicable laws, rules, and regulations applicable to Kaylex and the services provided under the contract.

Gregory Jones, Benson’s stepfather, worked as a supervisor for Kaylex for many years. Jones hired his stepson, a 235-pound high school football player, to work for Kaylex during the summers of 2002 and 2003 as a “lumper” unloading trucks at Sysco’s warehouse. Kaylex’s principal, Johnny Bunton, initially authorized Jones to hire Benson, who Bunton had known since Benson was a seven or eight-year-old child. A few weeks before Benson was injured, however, Bunton noticed Benson working on the warehouse docks and realized that Sysco would “have a cow” if it knew 15-year-old Benson was working there. According to Jones, Bunton told Jones that Benson could no longer be on Kaylex’s payroll, but did not expressly forbid Jones from bringing Benson to the warehouse. Benson continued to unload trucks at the warehouse while Jones used the identity of a former Kaylex employee to account for Benson’s work. Jones then cashed the checks payable to the former employee and paid the money to Benson.

On the morning of June 19, 2003, Benson asked Jones for permission to let another Kaylex employee show Benson how to use a stand-up forklift, a machine he had never previously operated. Benson began moving pallets around with the forklift. Around 10:00 a.m., Benson drove the forklift into a door. The forklift tipped over onto Benson, causing the injuries that led to his death. Sysco owned and maintained the forklifts used by Kaylex employees, including the one used by Benson. There were no warning signs on the forklifts prohibiting their operation by persons under the age of 18.

1. (a) Benson-Jones claims that Sysco’s violation of Georgia laws and state and federal regulations intended to protect minors such as Benson was negligent per se and was a proximate cause of her son’s death. She contends that OCGA § 39-2-11 (a) and 29 CFR § 570.5 required Sysco to obtain evidence of a certificate of Benson’s true age before permitting him to work in its warehouse. However, it is [581]*581undisputed that Benson was not a Sysco employee. 29 CFR § 570.5 is specifically directed to the minor’s “prospective employer.”5 OCGA § 39-2-11 (a) is also directed to employers, providing that minors between the ages of 12 and 16 shall not “be employed by or permitted to work for any person, firm, or corporation” without the appropriate age certificate.6 Further, the employment certificates are to be issued only upon, among other things, submission of a statement from the prospective employer indicating that “if he were furnished with a certificate from the school superintendent as required by law, he could employ the minor. . . .”7 After termination of employment of a minor between the ages of 12 and 16, “the employer shall return the employment certificate to the issuing officer.”8 Accordingly, because Sysco did not employ Benson it did not violate its duty to Benson by failing to obtain a certificate showing his age.

Benson-Jones also contends that Sysco violated OCGA§ 39-2-2, which provides: “No minor under the age of 16 years shall be employed or permitted to work at any occupation or in any position which the Commissioner of Labor may declare by regulation dangerous to life and limb or injurious to the health or morals of such minor.” The Commissioner of Labor has declared that no minor under 16 shall be employed to work at hazardous occupations and locations which include, as relevant here, occupations connected with power driven machinery, motorized vehicles, the loading of goods to or from trucks, and warehouses.9 Benson-Jones contends that OCGA § 39-2-2 and the accompanying regulations impose an affirmative duty on Sysco to prevent Benson from working in its warehouse. Since Benson did not work for Sysco, Benson-Jones relies on the statute’s provision that minors under the age of 16 shall not be “permitted to work” in dangerous occupations.

OCGA § 39-2-2 speaks to a minor’s “occupation” or “position.”10 The statute and accompanying regulation do not prohibit a minor’s presence, per se, in a location such as a warehouse.11 While Sysco had the power to exclude persons from its premises, including Kaylex employees, Kaylex assumed sole responsibility for the direction and control of its personnel. Further, as discussed below, there is no [582]*582evidence which shows that Sysco knew or had reason to know that Benson was under 16. Thus, if Sysco had permitted Benson’s employment in a dangerous occupation, it did so only to the extent that it failed to affirmatively ascertain that he was a minor performing illegal work on its premises and then failed to exercise its right to exclude him. Such an expansive interpretation of “permitted to work” would represent a significant burden to owners who may have nonemployees working on their premises.

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Bluebook (online)
651 S.E.2d 839, 287 Ga. App. 579, 26 I.E.R. Cas. (BNA) 1387, 2007 Fulton County D. Rep. 2973, 2007 Ga. App. LEXIS 1028, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/benson-jones-v-sysco-food-services-of-atlanta-llc-gactapp-2007.