Blakeman v. Emergency USA

83 Va. Cir. 269, 2011 WL 8947567, 2011 Va. Cir. LEXIS 109
CourtFairfax County Circuit Court
DecidedAugust 17, 2011
DocketCase No. CL-2010-6648
StatusPublished

This text of 83 Va. Cir. 269 (Blakeman v. Emergency USA) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Fairfax County Circuit Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Blakeman v. Emergency USA, 83 Va. Cir. 269, 2011 WL 8947567, 2011 Va. Cir. LEXIS 109 (Va. Super. Ct. 2011).

Opinion

By Judge Dennis J. Smith

This case comes before the Court on Demurrers filed by Defendants Emergency USA (“Emergency”), Quest Diagnostics, Inc. (“Quest”), and Wolfe & Associates, Inc., d/b/a Wolfe Drug Testing (“Wolfe”) to Plaintiff Paul Blakeman’s Amended Complaint. The matter was briefed and argument was heard, whereupon the Court took the Defendants’ Demurrers to Counts I to III (“Negligence”), Count IV (“Third-Party Beneficiary Claim”), and Count VI (“Intentional or Reckless Infliction of Emotional Distress”) of the Amended Complaint under advisement.

Facts as Pleaded and Procedural History

In March of 2009, Plaintiff was employed at a car dealership (“Employer”) that had adopted a Drug Free Work Place program, and Wolfe was the third-party administrator of this program. Wolfe contracted with Emergency to collect the urine specimens. Quest provides laboratory services to test employee urine samples.

On March 12,2009, the Employer directed Plaintiff to Emergency for a random drug screen. As part of the screen, the Employer provided Plaintiff with a Forensic Drug Testing Custody and Control Form (“CCF”). The CCF is designed to ensure the integrity of the drug testing process. Plaintiff provided Emergency with a specimen. Quest later informed Wolfe that the [270]*270sample tested positive for cocaine. Several days later, Plaintiff received a telephone call from the Medical Review Officer at Wolfe, informing him that he had tested positive for cocaine. Plaintiff told his Employer of the call, but his Employer terminated his employment the same day.

Plaintiff filed a Complaint against Defendants on May 7,2010, seeking monetary damages for Defendants’ alleged negligence. On October 29, 2010, this Court sustained Defendants’ Demurrers to the Complaint as to the issues of duty and injury and permitted Plaintiff leave to amend.

Plaintiff filed an Amended Complaint on November 19, 2010, alleging negligence, a third-party beneficiary claim, res ipsa loquitur, and intentional or reckless infliction of emotional distress. Count I alleges that Emergency negligently collected Plaintiff’s urine specimen. Under Count II, Plaintiff alleges that Wolfe had a duty to ensure that Emergency followed the CCF steps and instructions and a duty to verify and reevaluate the accuracy of the test results. Count III alleges that Quest was negligent for failing to confirm that the CCF steps were followed and for failing to invalidate the test result. In Count IV, Plaintiff alleges that he was an intended third-party beneficiary of the agreement between his Employer and Wolfe and that Defendants’ failure to follow the CCF instructions and take corrective action constituted breaches of their duties. Count V is a res ipsa loquitur claim against all Defendants. In Count VI, Plaintiff alleges that Defendants’ intentional or reckless conduct caused him emotional distress.

Defendants have filed Demurrers to all counts of the Amended Complaint.

Standard of Review

“The purpose of a demurrer is to determine whether a complaint states a cause of action upon which relief may be granted.” Bell v. Saunders, 278 Va. 49, 53, 677 S.E.2d 39 (2009). “A demurrer admits the truth of the facts contained in the pleading to which it is addressed, as well as any facts that may be reasonably and fairly implied and inferred from those allegations.” Yuzefovsky v. St. John’s Wood Apts., 261 Va. 97, 102, 540 S.E.2d 134 (2001). To withstand demurrer, a complaint need only contain “sufficient allegations of material facts to inform a defendant of the nature and character of the claim,” and need not “descend into statements giving details of proof.” CaterCorp, Inc. v. Catering Concepts, Inc., 246 Va. 22, 24, 431 S.E.2d 277 (1993). “A demurrer does not test matters of proof and, unlike a motion for summary judgment, does not involve evaluating and deciding the merits of a claim; it tests only the sufficiency of factual allegations to determine whether the pleading states a cause of action.” Welding, Inc. v. Bland County Serv. Auth., 261 Va. 218, 227-28, 541 S.E.2d 909 (2001).

[271]*271 Analysis of Grounds for Demurrer

A. Did Wolfe and Plaintiff’s Employer Enter into a Contract for the Benefit ofPlaintiff as a Third-Party Beneficiary?

Defendants argue that the Amended Complaint provides no support for the claim that Plaintiff was an intended beneficiary of the agreement between his Employer and Wolfe. “The essence of a third-party beneficiary’s claim is that others have agreed between themselves to bestow a benefit upon the third party but one of the parties to the agreement fails to uphold his portion of the bargain.” Copenhaver v. Rogers, 238 Va. 361, 367, 384 S.E.2d 593 (1989). For a third-party beneficiary claim to succeed, “the third party must show that the contracting parties clearly and definitely intended that the contract confer a benefit upon him.” Collins v. First Union Nat’l Bank, 272 Va. 744, 751, 636 S.E.2d 442 (2006). “[A] person who benefits only incidentally from a contract between others cannot sue thereon.” Copenhaver, 238 Va. at 367.

It is conceded that there was a written contract between the Employer and Wolfe. “[A] court considering a demurrer may ignore a party’s factual allegations contradicted by the terms of authentic, unambiguous documents that properly are a part of the pleadings.” Ward’s Equip, v. New Holland N. Am., 254 Va. 379, 382, 493 S.E.2d 516 (1997). Even though the Amended Complaint’s third-party beneficiary claim refers to all Defendants, Plaintiff only alleges an agreement between Wolfe and the Employer:

By agreement with Plaintiff’s employer, Defendant [Wolfe] was the Third-party Administrator and Medical Review Officer for the Drug Free Workplace Program (DFWP). The intended third-party beneficiaries of the agreement between Plaintiffs employer and Wolfe were the employees of the Plaintiffs employer. As an employee, Plaintiff was an intended beneficiary of this agreement.

(Am. Compl. ¶ 53.) According to Section 15 of the Occupational Testing Services Agreement (“Agreement”) between Wolfe and the Employer, the Agreement “is intended to inure only to the benefit of administrator [Wolfe] and principal [Plaintiffs Employer].” (Pl.’s Resp. to Mot. Craving Oyer, Ex. A.) “This Agreement is not intended to create, nor shall be deemed or construed to create, any rights in any thirdparties.” (Id) These unambiguous phrases leave no doubt that Wolfe and the Employer did not contract for the benefit of Plaintiff during the term of the written contract. Although Plaintiff did not attach a copy of this Agreement to the Amended Complaint, on February 24, 2011, the Honorable Brett A. Kassabian granted a Motion [272]*272Craving Oyer as to the Agreement identified by the Plaintiff and made it a part of the Amended Complaint.

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Bluebook (online)
83 Va. Cir. 269, 2011 WL 8947567, 2011 Va. Cir. LEXIS 109, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/blakeman-v-emergency-usa-vaccfairfax-2011.