Carter v. Chevron Chemical Co.

593 So. 2d 942, 1992 WL 14084
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedJanuary 30, 1992
Docket91-CA-1013, 91-CA-1582
StatusPublished
Cited by26 cases

This text of 593 So. 2d 942 (Carter v. Chevron Chemical Co.) 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
Carter v. Chevron Chemical Co., 593 So. 2d 942, 1992 WL 14084 (La. Ct. App. 1992).

Opinion

593 So.2d 942 (1992)

Adolph CARTER
v.
CHEVRON CHEMICAL COMPANY, Joseph M. Mackenzie, and Al Despot.

Nos. 91-CA-1013, 91-CA-1582.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Fourth Circuit.

January 30, 1992.
Writ Denied April 10, 1992.

*943 Clement P. Donelon and Donelon & Majoria, Metairie, for plaintiff-appellant, Adolph Carter.

Milling, Benson, Woodward, Hillyer, Pierson & Miller, Bruce R. Hoefer, Jr. and Len R. Brignac, New Orleans, for defendant-appellee, Joseph M. MacKenzie.

Before KLEES, BYRNES and JONES, JJ.

KLEES, Judge.

This is an appeal by plaintiff, Adolph Carter, from the granting of summary judgment dismissing his tort claim against defendants, Chevron Chemical Company (Chevron) and Joseph M. MacKenzie. After reviewing the record and applicable law, we reverse and remand for a trial on the merits.

Plaintiff was employed by J.E. Merit Constructors, Inc. (J.E. Merit) to operate a machine called a "clinker hopper" as well as to perform other general maintenance services at Chevron's Oak Point Plant. Chevron had contracted with J.E. Merit to provide general maintenance services and laborers at Chevron's Oak Point Plant in Belle Chase, Louisiana. On March 5, 1989, plaintiff was injured when his foot slipped into a screw conveyor while he was unloading ash from the clinker hopper. On December 6, 1989, plaintiff filed suit in tort against Chevron, MacKenzie, and Al Despot for injuries sustained as a result of this accident.

Chevron and MacKenzie, Chevron's plant manager, filed separate motions for summary judgment to dismiss plaintiff's claims on the grounds that plaintiff was Chevron's statutory employee and/or borrowed servant and, therefore, limited to the exclusive remedy provisions of the Louisiana Worker's Compensation Statute. On February 15, 1991, the trial judge granted Chevron's motion for summary judgment dismissing plaintiff's claims against Chevron. On April 19, 1991, the trial court granted MacKenzie's motion for summary judgment dismissing plaintiff's claim against him. On May 7, 1991, the court ordered consolidation of the appeals of these judgments.

On appeal, plaintiff argues that the trial court erred in granting summary judgment in the following ways:

(1) the trial court erred in finding that plaintiff was a statutory employee of Chevron;
(2) the trial court erred in finding that plaintiff was a borrowed servant of Chevron;
(3) the trial court erred in dismissing plaintiff's cause of action under La.C.C. art. 2315.3.

A motion for summary judgment may be granted if the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, admissions and affidavits show that there is no genuine issue as to material fact and that mover is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. LSA-C.C.P. art. 966. The burden of showing that there is no genuine issue of material fact and mover is entitled to judgment as a matter of law is incumbent upon the mover, and all doubt must be resolved against the mover and in favor of trial on the merits. Chaisson v. Domingue, 372 So.2d 1225 (La.1979), Oller v. Sharp Elec., Inc., 451 So.2d 1235 (La.App. 4th Cir.1984), writ denied 457 So.2d 1194 (La.1984).

The trial judge did not state reasons for granting the summary judgments dismissing defendants. His decision could have been based on three possible findings:

(1) The trial judge could have determined that plaintiff was the statutory employee of defendants based on the retroactive application of the 1989 Amendment to LSA-R.S. 23:1061;

(2) The trial judge could have determined that plaintiff was the statutory employee based on the Berry analysis; or

*944 (3) The trial judge could have determined that plaintiff was Chevron's borrowed servant.

The first issue on appeal is whether the trial court erred in granting summary judgment in favor of defendants on the ground that a statutory employment relationship existed between plaintiff and Chevron. The Louisiana Worker's Compensation Act provides the exclusive remedy for employees who sustain injuries arising out of and in the course and scope of their employment. La.R.S. 23:1021 et seq. The statute further extends tort immunity beyond the employee's immediate employer to one who satisfies the statutory employment relationship. La.R.S. 23:1061.[1] Under certain circumstances, employees of contractors are considered to be the employees of the owner or principal.

Prior to the 1989 amendment to La.R.S. 23:1061, the supreme court in Berry v. Holston Well Service, Inc., 488 So.2d 934 (La.1986) developed a three step test for determining whether statutory employment existed between an employee of a contractor and the principal:

(1) Is the contract work specialized? If so then as a matter of law the contract work is not part of the principal's trade, business, or occupation and the principal is not the statutory employer of the contractor's employee.
(2) If the contract work is nonspecialized, compare the contract work to the principal's trade, business, or occupation to determine if the contract work can be considered part of the principal's trade, business, or occupation.
(3) If the contract work is part of the principal's trade, business, or occupation, was the principal engaged in the contract work at the time of the injury.

The 1989 Amendment to R.S. 23:1061, effective January 1, 1990, broadened the reach of the statutory employment language, *945 returning the courts to a more liberal standard of tort immunity.[2] The amendment legislatively overruled Berry. The effective date of the statute was January 1, 1990. Plaintiff was injured and filed suit prior to the effective date of the amendment; therefore, we must determine whether the amendment is to be given retroactive effect.

Article 6 of the Louisiana Civil Code provides:

In the absence of contrary legislative expression, substantive laws apply prospectively only. Procedural and interpretive laws apply both prospectively and retroactively, unless there is a legislative expression to the contrary.

Defendants argue that the statute was amended to clarify an existing statute and, therefore, should be given retroactive application. In Gulf Oil Corp. v. State Mineral Board, 317 So.2d 576 (La.1974), the Louisiana Supreme Court stated:

Interpretive legislation cannot properly be said to divest vested rights, because, under civilian theory, such legislation does not violate the principle of non-retroactivity of laws. The interpretive legislation does not create new rules, but merely establishes the meaning that the interpreted statute had from the time of its enactment. It is the original statute, not the interpretive one, that establishes rights and duties.

Defendants cite several federal district court cases which gave retroactive effect to the amendment to section 1061 reasoning that the amendment is merely interpretive of prior law and does not disturb vested rights. Brock v. Chevron Chemical Company, 750 F.Supp. 779 (E.D.La.1990), vacated by 946 F.2d 1544 (5th Cir.1991), Sawyer v. Texaco Refining and Marketing, No. 89-2734, 1991 WL 28986 (E.D.La. February 25, 1991), Gambino v. Chevron U.S.A. Inc., 1991 WL 6231 (E.D.La. Mar. 26, 1991), vacated by 947 F.2d 1487

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