Chuck W. Adams, Charles E. Howard v. ArvinMeritor, Inc.

48 N.E.3d 1, 2015 Ind. App. LEXIS 741, 2015 WL 8319119
CourtIndiana Court of Appeals
DecidedDecember 9, 2015
Docket49A02-1406-PL-465
StatusPublished
Cited by12 cases

This text of 48 N.E.3d 1 (Chuck W. Adams, Charles E. Howard v. ArvinMeritor, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Indiana Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Chuck W. Adams, Charles E. Howard v. ArvinMeritor, Inc., 48 N.E.3d 1, 2015 Ind. App. LEXIS 741, 2015 WL 8319119 (Ind. Ct. App. 2015).

Opinions

ROBB, Judge.

Case Summary and Issues

[1] Chuck Adams and Charles Howard are inmates at the Indiana Department of Correction (“DOC”) Correctional Industrial Facility (“CIF”) in Madison County. Both Adams and Howard participate in an offender work program at CIF operated by Meritor. In a single complaint, Adams raised two legally independent but factually related claims: 1) a claim for unpaid [4]*4wages against the Meritor and ■ certain State defendants1 joined by Chuck Howard and all ArvinMeritor-Meritor-PEN Brake Shop Employee's similarly situated, and 2) an individual personal injury claim against the Medical and additional State (“State-CIF”) defendants arising from injuries Adams allegedly sustained on the job.2 The trial court granted the Meritor and State defendants’ Trial Rule 12(B)(6) motions to dismiss the wage claim, which alleged there is no private right of action to sue for such wages. The trial court granted summary judgment to the Medical and State-CIF defendants on the personal injury claim on the basis of Adams’s failure to exhaust his administrative remedies.

[2] Adams raises several issues on appeal, of which we address three: 1) whether a private right of action, is available to enforce Indiana Code Title 11;3 2) whether Adams was required to exhaust administrative remedies before bringing a personal injuiy action; and 3) whether Adams had a right to participate in a hearing on. a number of motions.4 We conclude Adams did have a private right of action to pursue his wage claim and therefore the trial court erred in granting the [5]*5Meritor and State defendants’ motions to dismiss as to that claim. We further conclude Adams had an available administrative remedy as to his personal injury claim but failed to pursue it to completion and therefore the trial court properly granted summary judgment to the Medical and State-CIF defendants. Finally, we conclude Adams was allowed to participate in the hearing through the submission of documentary evidence and the trial court did not err in denying his motion to appear by video conference or- same-day transport. We reverse in part and affirm in part.

■ Facts and Procedural History

[3] In February 2010, the Meritor defendants entered into a contract with the DOC to operate a brake shop at CIF employing offenders to remanufacture brake shoes .for sale by Meritor to the trucking industry. .The contract specifically states it is a “revenue generating contract that will create job opportunities for offenders[,]” Appellants’ App. at 89, and that the parties will “comply with all federal, state and local laws, rules, regulations and ordinances applicable to its performance,” id. at 96. The contract provides there will be an area within CIF for Mem tor’s exclusive use, gives Meritor the right in conjunction with the DOC to screen applicants, lets Meritor control the number of workers and the daily schedule of the operation, and allows Meritor to request removal and replacement of a worker for any valid reason. Moreover, Meritor pays the DOC rent, pays its own utilities, and provides all equipment, training, and supervision of offenders. See id. at 89-118.

[4] In March 2010, Adams applied, interviewed, and was hired by Meritor to work in the brake shop. In April 2010, Adams was informed that his pay would begin at fifty cents per hour, eventually increasing to $1.10 per hour, with periodic bonuses. Adams asserts the pay for comparable work by non-inmates at the Meritor plant in Plainfield is at least' $11.71 per hour. See id. at 79.

[5] In September 2010, Adams was injured in a workplace accident and was tended to by the Medical defendants. Adams alleges his injuries were inadequately treated and ultimately led to a heart attack that was also ' inadequately treated.1 He made a claim regarding the lack of proper medical care that he alleges the State-CIF defendants failed to adequately investigate. •

[6] In September 2012, Adams filed an amended complaint regarding the unpaid wages and his injuries.5 In October, the Meritor defendants moved to dismiss the complaint, and Adams filed a response setting out his legal arguments against dismissal. Also in October, Adams filed a Verified Emergency Motion for Preliminary Injunction. The trial court sent notice to Adams on November 7 that a hearing had been scheduled for December 3 on the Meritor defendants’ motion to dismiss and his motion for preliminary'injunction. Adams moved to appear at the hearing by video conference or same-day transport, but the motion was not received by the court until November 28. The Meritor defendants appeared at the hearing but Adams did not. In its order dated December 17, the trial court denied Adams’s motion to appear by video conference or for same-day transport, finding it: was untimely and allowed no time to arrange video conferencing; the court had no obligation to transport Adams in a civil case and no [6]*6resources to do so; and noting the court had nonetheless twice attempted to reach Adams or his contact person prior to the hearing to arrange a telephonic appearance but the calls went unanswered. The trial court also denied Adams’s motion for preliminary injunction and granted the Meritor defendants’ motion to dismiss.

[7] In December 2012, all State defendants moved to dismiss the complaint against them. The Medical defendants subsequently joined in the motion to dismiss. On January 23, 2013, the trial court held a hearing at which the State and Medical defendants appeared in person and Adams appeared via telephone. Following the hearing, the trial court issued an order finding that Adams’s complaint stated two claims upon which relief might be granted: a claim of deliberate indifference under the Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution and 42 U.S.C. § 1983, and a medical malpractice claim, both arising from the alleged circumstances surrounding Adams’s injury. The trial court denied the Medical and State-CIF defendants’ motions to dismiss as to those two claims and granted the motions to dismiss as to all other claims, including all of Howard’s claims.

[8] The Medical and State-CIF defendants then filed motions for summary judgment alleging they were entitled to judgment as a matter of law on the remaining claims because Adams had failed to exhaust his administrative remedies before filing suit. The trial court granted summary judgment to both the Medical and State-CIF defendants. All claims as to all parties having been resolved, Adams initiated this appeal.

Discussion and Decision

I. Wage Claim

A. Standard of Review

[9] We review de novo the trial court’s ruling on a Trial Rule 12(B)(6) motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted. Caesars Riverboat Casino, LLC v. Kephart, 934 N.E.2d 1120, 1122 (Ind.2010). A Rule 12(B)(6) motion tests the legal sufficiency of the complaint, not the facts underlying it. Id. We accept the facts alleged in the complaint as true and view the complaint in the light most favorable to the non-moving party, drawing every reasonable inference in favor of that party. Duty v. Boys & Girls Club of Porter Cnty.,

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
48 N.E.3d 1, 2015 Ind. App. LEXIS 741, 2015 WL 8319119, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/chuck-w-adams-charles-e-howard-v-arvinmeritor-inc-indctapp-2015.