Davis v. Morrison-Knudsen Co.

289 F. Supp. 835, 1968 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 9059
CourtDistrict Court, D. Oregon
DecidedJuly 30, 1968
DocketCiv. No. 67-234
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 289 F. Supp. 835 (Davis v. Morrison-Knudsen Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Oregon primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Davis v. Morrison-Knudsen Co., 289 F. Supp. 835, 1968 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 9059 (D. Or. 1968).

Opinion

OPINION

KILKENNY, District Judge:

Defendants’ motion for a summary judgment is grounded on the theory that plaintiff’s reme'dy, if any, is under the Workmen’s Compensation Act of the state of Idaho and that this remedy is exclusive. The governing principle, as I view it, is whether Oregon or Idaho law should be applied. Plaintiff is a citizen of Oregon. Defendants are nonresidents of this state, but do business herein.

Defendants hired plaintiff in Oregon on August 16, 1965, to operate a Caterpillar dump truck at the Hell’s Canyon Dam site on the Snake River between Oregon and Idaho. He was assigned to the Oregon side of the project, but frequently criss-crossed the Idaho-Oregon boundary in the process of completing short delivery hauls. At the time of the accident, he had worked approximately 106 hours in Oregon and 48 hours in Idaho. However, -on the days immediately preceding the accident, it appears that plaintiff was required to spend about 90% of his time in Idaho. Pursuant to an agreement between defendants and the Idaho and Oregon Teamsters Union, plaintiff was paid on the basis of four hours work in Oregon and four hours work in Idaho.

Plaintiff was injured when he made a trip into Idaho to pick up a load of clay building material. While so engaged, plaintiff fell and sustained injuries.

It is firmly established in Idaho that its Workmen’s Compensation statute abrogates the common law action for negligence and is the sole remedy open to an injured workman. French v. J. A. Terteling & Sons, 75 Idaho 480, 274 P.2d 990 (1954). Idaho law is also clear that an employer is within the ambit of Idaho Workmen’s Compensation even though the only contact is that the workman made an isolated trip into Idaho and while in the state was injured. Langley v. Consolidated Freightways, 80 Idaho 468, 333 P.2d 456 (1958). Thus, it is quite clear that plaintiff was covered by the Idaho statute, and that if Idaho law is to be applied, he is precluded from seeking recovery against defendants in tort.

Under Oregon law, as it stood at the time of the accident, plaintiff was engaged in a hazardous occupation as defined by ORS 656.084. ORS 656.024 allowed an employer engaged in a hazardous occupation to elect not to contribute to the Industrial Accident Fund. This election had to be filed with the [837]*837state and the employer had to post notices informing his employees of his election. The employer was then liable to his workmen for his negligence, default, or wrongful act as if the statutes had not been passed. The statute also provided that the common law defenses of the fellow-servant rule, contributory negligence, and assumption of risk could not be pleaded by the employer in such a common law action. Defendants elected not to be covered by the Oregon Workmen’s Compensation statute and thus left themselves open to an action in tort in Oregon. Idaho law does not permit such an election and required them to contribute to the Idaho Workmen’s Compensation fund. Immediately upon entry into the hospital at Baker, Oregon, plaintiff signed a “Notice of Injury and Claim for Compensation to Industrial Accident Board, Boise, Idaho.” Plaintiff received benefits from defendants’ insurance company for a period of time and when these were terminated, rather than ask the Idaho Board for a hearing, he instituted this tort action in Oregon.

The Oregon statute

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12 F.3d 308 (First Circuit, 1993)
Saharceski v. Marcure
366 N.E.2d 1245 (Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, 1977)
Edmunds v. Edmunds
353 F. Supp. 287 (District of Columbia, 1972)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
289 F. Supp. 835, 1968 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 9059, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/davis-v-morrison-knudsen-co-ord-1968.