Cottingham v. Tutor Perini Building Corp.

237 F. Supp. 3d 244, 2017 WL 679650, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 23625
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Pennsylvania
DecidedFebruary 21, 2017
DocketCIVIL ACTION NO. 14-2793
StatusPublished

This text of 237 F. Supp. 3d 244 (Cottingham v. Tutor Perini Building Corp.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Cottingham v. Tutor Perini Building Corp., 237 F. Supp. 3d 244, 2017 WL 679650, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 23625 (E.D. Pa. 2017).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM

O’NEILL, District Judge

Plaintiff Cory Cottingham, an employee of a subcontractor on a construction site, [246]*246brings claims against Tutor Perini Building Corporation and Keating Building Company1 for negligence based on an accident in which plaintiffs leg and foot were crushed by falling cement panels. Dkt. No. 23 (Sec. Am. Compl.). Defendants move for summary judgment on plaintiffs claim, submitting several briefs in support of their motion. Dkt. Nos. 66 (Mot. and Mem.), 69 (Reply) and 71 (Sur-Reply). They argue, among other things, that defendant Tutor Perini Building Corporation is entitled to Worker’s Compensation Act immunity as plaintiffs statutory employer, and they present evidence to this effect. Plaintiff, in his responses, Dkt. Nos. 68 (Response) and 70 (Reply), contends that Tutor Perini Building Corporation is not entitled to this immunity because it did not control or occupy the construction site. However, plaintiff does not present sufficient evidence to support this contention. Therefore, I will grant defendants’ motion for summary judgment.

BACKGROUND

This personal injury case arises out of an accident that occurred during the Chestnut Street Tower construction project at 31st and Chestnut Streets in Philadelphia. Plaintiff worked for Carson Concrete Corporation, a subcontractor of defendant Tutor Perini Building Corporation. Dkt. No. 66, Ex. A (Cottingham Dep.) at 12:3-16. According to the subcontract with Tutor Perini Building Corporation, Carson was to lay the concrete foundation and superstructure of the building. Dkt. No. 66, Exs. H-l and H-2 (Subcontract between Tutor Perini Building Corp. and Carson Concrete Corp., Jan. 11, 2013).

I. The Accident

On July 10, 2013, plaintiff was working with a coworker to hoist cement blocks, Cottingham Dep. at 151:6-15. They were using rigging equipment to secure stacks of panels to the crane’s hook with four slings that they secured to the bottom panel in the stack at four points with pins. Cottingham Dep. at 153:11-154:6; Dkt. No. 68, Ex. N (Bradfield Safety Consultants Report, Aug. 12, 2016) at 2. In order to have a secure lift, the two workers must secure their pins in the same block, each on his respective side of the stack. Dkt. No. 68, Ex. N at 3.

When the load was about a foot off the ground, it came apart and the cement panels fell on plaintiffs legs. Cottingham Dep. at 187:12-190:22. Dkt. No. 66, Ex. S (McGilligan Dep.) at 68:1-74:12. Both parties agree that the men had placed the pins at different levels of the stack, though they disagree about which worker misplaced his pins. Dkt. No. 68, Ex. N at p. 1 (PL’s Expert Report) (concluding plaintiffs coworker misplaced his pins); Dkt. No 66, Ex. U (Def.’s Expert Report, Sala) at 18 (concluding plaintiff misplaced his pins), Ex. T (Def.’s Expert Report, Riggs) at 5-6 (same).

Plaintiffs expert opined that a number of safety precautions could have prevented the accident, including a job safety analysis before the operation that would have revealed the need to use either a basket hitch or a combination of a strap along with the lifting.pins to secure the load from unanticipated movement. Dkt. No. 68, Ex. N at p. 11. He also determined that [247]*247plaintiff and his coworker were unqualified for the rigging work they were performing. Id. at p. 15.

II. The Defendants

Carson, plaintiffs employer, is not a defendant in this action.2 Rather, plaintiff brings this negligence claim against two other companies that, he argues, were responsible for safety at the construction site. Sec. Am. Compl. ¶¶ 8-12.

These defendants have a complex.corporate relationship. Both are owned by the same parent company, Tutor Perini Corporation. Dkt. No. 66, Ex. J (Keating Building Corp. Supp. Responses to Pl.’s Interrogs., June 15, 2016) at 3. This parent company acquired Keating Building Corporation in 2009. Dkt. No. 68, Ex. C (Press Release, Jan. 15, 2009). Keating Building Corporation then converted to a Delaware LLC and changed its name slightly, from “Corporation” to “Company,” Dkt. No. 68,’ Ex. C (Press Release); Ex. D (State of Delaware Certification of Conversion from a Corp. to a LLC, Dec. 24, 2009). Defendant contends that Keating Building Corporation’s employees became Tutor Perini Building Corporation employees, but that Keating Building Company continues to exist and operate as a wholly owned subsidiary of Tutor Perini Corporation. Keating Building Corp. Supp. Responses to PI’s Interrogs. at 3; Dkt. No. 66, Ex. E (Shaw Dep.) at 32:4-33:12, 67:16-68:25.

The parties dispute which- defendant company—Tutor Perini Building Corporation or Keating Building Company—was involved in the Chestnut Street Tower project. On the one hand, only Tutor Perini Building Corporation had any contracts related to the project. The contract for the tower’s construction is between the owner of the 31st Street property and Tutor Peri-ni Building Corporation and, pursuant to that contract, the property owner paid Tutor Perini Building Corporation to be the construction manager. Dkt. No. 68, Ex. K (Constr. Mgmt. Servs. Agreement, Oct. 22, 2012) at 1; Shaw Dep. at 75:3-17; Dkt. No. 69, Ex. 2 (Vendor History Report, May 4, 2016) (summarizing vendor invoices related to the Chestnut Street Tower project). The contract with Carson for the concrete work is also with Tutor Perini Building Corporation. Dkt. No. 66, Exs. H-l and H-2 (Subcontract between Tutor Perini Building Corp. and Carson Concrete Corporation, Jan. 11,2013). Additionally, the people who managed the construction at the site saw themselves as Tutor Perini Building Corporation .employees, even though they formerly worked for Keating Building Corporation. See Dkt. No^ 66, Ex. F (Statler Dep.) at 17:7-12, Ex. M (Schellenberg Dep.) at 20:14-17, 21:13-20; Ex. N (Cooney Dep.) at 7:24-25; Ex. O (M. Hart Dep.) at 18:13-17. And after the purchase, Bradley Statler, formerly the president of Keating Building Corporation, began reporting to the Tutor Perini Building Corporation president. Statler Dep. at 15:9-19:24. In 2014, Craig Shaw, then Tutor Perini. Building Corporation president, informed Statler his employment was terminated. Statler Dep. at 17:16-18:4.

On the other hand, there is evidence that Keating Building Company was involved in the project. First, Keating Building Company paid the people who worked on the site and sent their W-2s. Dkt. No. 68, Ex. H (2013 W-2 Earnings Summaries). Second, Bradley Statler, the Keating Building Corporation president turned Tu[248]*248tor Perini executive vice president, cosigned the construction contract between Tutor Perini Building Corporation and the property owner using his former, Keating title. See Constr. Mgmt. Servs. Agreement, Oct.-22, 2012 at 107; Statler Dep. at 16:15-19. Third, Keating Building Corporation obtained building permits for the site. Dkt. No. 68, Ex. J (Phila. Building Permits, Jan. 14, 2013 and July 26, 2013). Finally, plaintiff points to a letter on Tutor Perini Building Corporation letterhead from Rachel Fisler, a contracts administrar tor at Tutor Perini Building Corporation, to Safway Services, a subcontractor performing work on the construction site, that advises Safway to “feel free to contact Keating Building Company’s assigned Project Manager” if questions arise. Dkt. No, 68, Ex. I (Letter from Fisler to Safway, Sept. 5, 2013).

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc.
477 U.S. 242 (Supreme Court, 1986)
Ashman v. Sharon Steel Corp.
448 A.2d 1054 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1982)
Farabaugh v. Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission
911 A.2d 1264 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 2006)
Beil v. Telesis Construction, Inc.
11 A.3d 456 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 2011)
Rodgers v. Washington County Institution District
37 A.2d 610 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1944)
McDonald v. Levinson Steel Co.
153 A. 424 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1930)
Barnes, D. v. ALCOA, Inc.
145 A.3d 730 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2016)
Kelly v. Thackray Crane Rental, Inc.
874 A.2d 649 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2005)
Sweet v. Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board
322 A.2d 362 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1974)
Rugh v. Keystone-Lawrence Transfer & Storage Co.
179 A.2d 242 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 1962)
Martin Trucking Co. v. Workmen's Compensation Appeal Board
373 A.2d 1168 (Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania, 1977)
Williams v. Borough of West Chester
891 F.2d 458 (Third Circuit, 1989)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
237 F. Supp. 3d 244, 2017 WL 679650, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 23625, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/cottingham-v-tutor-perini-building-corp-paed-2017.