Black v. STATE, DEPT. OF PUBLIC SAFETY & CORR.

657 So. 2d 270, 1995 WL 297495
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedMay 17, 1995
Docket94-1305
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 657 So. 2d 270 (Black v. STATE, DEPT. OF PUBLIC SAFETY & CORR.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Louisiana Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Black v. STATE, DEPT. OF PUBLIC SAFETY & CORR., 657 So. 2d 270, 1995 WL 297495 (La. Ct. App. 1995).

Opinion

657 So.2d 270 (1995)

Richard BLACK, Plaintiff-Appellee,
v.
STATE of Louisiana, Through the DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY AND CORRECTIONS, and the City of DeQuincy, Defendants-Appellants.

No. 94-1305.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Third Circuit.

May 17, 1995.
Writ Denied September 29, 1995.

*272 Joseph V. DiRosa Jr., New Orleans, for Richard Black.

Robert Wickliffe Fenet, Thomas Joseph Solari, Lake Charles, for State of LA, Through Dept. of Public Safety and Corrections.

Bradley Charles Myers, John F. Jakuback, Baton Rouge, for City of DeQuincy.

Before DOUCET, C.J., and LABORDE and KNOLL, JJ.

KNOLL, Judge.

This appeal concerns the liability of the State of Louisiana, through the Department of Public Safety and Corrections, and the City of DeQuincy, for injuries an inmate sustained while working for the City of DeQuincy.

FACTS

On January 12, 1989, Richard Black, then an inmate at the Louisiana Correctional and Industrial School (LCIS) in DeQuincy (hereafter the City), was one of approximately fifteen inmates assigned to a work detail for the City pursuant to its contract with the Department of Public Safety and Corrections.[1] Under the supervision of William "Sonny" Johnson, a City employee, the inmates were instructed to clear trees and other brush from a four foot area on either side of a fence surrounding a waste pond. Sonny Johnson assigned Black the task of cutting the trees down with a chain saw, while another inmate, Michael Fletcher, gathered the limbs into piles to be hauled away. During the course of this work, Black felled a large tree and cut it into smaller pieces for easier handling. As Fletcher flipped the stump of the tree into a ravine where the debris was being stacked, the stump slipped from his hands, landing on Black's right foot and severing his great toe at the joint.

Black was taken to DeQuincy Memorial Hospital, where his foot was cleaned and bandaged. He returned to the LCIS infirmary *273 and was transferred later that afternoon to Charity Hospital in New Orleans, where his severed toe was surgically reattached. The toe became gangrenous and Black's physicians conceded that the attempted reattachment had been unsuccessful. On February 22, 1989, Black's toe was partially amputated at the distal interphalangeal joint. Black was discharged from follow-up care on April 12, 1989. Dr. Thomas Ford, an orthopedist, estimated Black's "permanent/partial physical impairment to be 75 percent of the great toe," corresponding to a 14 percent impairment of the right foot as a whole, but stated that Black had no functional disability and was capable of full duty. Black testified at trial that he now has no problems getting around on his foot and can generally do the things he did before the accident occurred.

PROCEDURAL HISTORY

Black contended at trial that the State, through the Department of Public Safety and Corrections, and the City were liable for the negligence of inmate Michael Fletcher[2] under the doctrine of respondeat superior. He further argued that both entities were liable for negligently supervising the prison work crew and for failing to provide adequate safety equipment, including steel-toed work boots. And finally, he claimed that once his injury occurred, both entities were negligent in rendering medical treatment.

After a bench trial, the district court found that the negligence of Michael Fletcher was the sole cause of Black's injuries, and concluded that Fletcher was an employee of the City and the State under a respondeat superior analysis. The court also held that the supervision, safety equipment, and instructions given to the work crews were sufficient and not negligent. The court further held that the City and the State sought prompt medical attention for Black, and refused to find any negligence on the part of either entity with regard to Black's medical treatment. Finding the City and the State liable to the plaintiff in solido, the court awarded Black $35,000 in total damages, including pain and suffering, disability, and all medical expenses.[3] Pursuant to an indemnification clause in the contract between the City and the Department of Public Safety and Corrections, the court held that the City was responsible for indemnification of any sums paid by the State to the plaintiff.

From this judgment, the City appeals, raising three issues: (1) The trial court's finding that the City and the State were liable through the doctrine of respondeat superior for the negligent and/or intentional acts of Michael Fletcher was erroneous; (2) in the alternative, if respondeat superior liability applies to inmates, then the indemnity agreement between the City and the State should not make the City liable for the entirety of the judgment; and (3) the trial court was manifestly erroneous in its award of general damages to the plaintiff. The State has also appealed, raising the respondeat superior issue and, in the alternative, urging that the indemnification issue was correctly decided. The plaintiff has answered the appeal, seeking an increase in quantum and review of the supervision, safety equipment, and instruction issue.

For the reasons which follow, we set aside the judgment of the trial court. We find that the City was negligent in failing to provide adequate safety equipment to the inmates on the work detail, a duty which the City assumed by contract with the Department of Public Safety and Corrections. The City's negligence was the cause-in-fact of the harm to plaintiff under the analysis of Campbell v. Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development, 94-1052 (La. 1/17/95); 648 So.2d 898. We assess the fault of the City at 100 percent. We find no negligence on the part of inmate Michael Fletcher or the State; therefore, we pretermit discussion of whether the State can be held vicariously liable for the negligence of a prison inmate. Because we assess 100 percent of the fault to the City, we further pretermit discussion of the effect of the indemnity clause in the City's contract with the Department of Public Safety and Corrections. And finally, we *274 find no abuse of discretion in the $35,000 damage award made by the trial court.

NEGLIGENCE OF THE CITY OF DEQUINCY

On the day the accident occurred, LCIS provided the inmates on the work crew with a pair of rubber boots and a pair of low top leather work boots. Since the ground at the work site was wet and muddy from recent rain, Black and his fellow inmates wore the rubber boots. There was conflicting testimony at trial as to whether the inmates made this decision on their own or whether Sonny Johnson told the inmates which shoes to wear. Nevertheless, it is uncontroverted that the inmates were not provided steel-toed safety boots by either LCIS or the City.

The plaintiff called Dr. Andrew Egan, Ph.D. as an expert witness in logging safety. Dr. Egan testified that according to OSHA and American Pulpwood Association standards, the person operating the chain saw should have had, at "a bare minimum," a hard hat, chaps, eye and ear protection, and some sort of steel-toed or safety-toed work boots. He opined that the proper safety equipment would not have prevented the accident from occurring, but would have minimized the severity of plaintiff's injury.

The recent Supreme Court decision in Campbell v. Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development, supra, is particularly relevant to the present case. In Campbell,

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
657 So. 2d 270, 1995 WL 297495, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/black-v-state-dept-of-public-safety-corr-lactapp-1995.