Doucet v. Gulf Oil Corp.

783 F.2d 518, 1986 U.S. App. LEXIS 22343
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
DecidedFebruary 20, 1986
DocketNos. 83-3711, 84-3434 and 84-3612
StatusPublished
Cited by38 cases

This text of 783 F.2d 518 (Doucet v. Gulf Oil Corp.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Doucet v. Gulf Oil Corp., 783 F.2d 518, 1986 U.S. App. LEXIS 22343 (5th Cir. 1986).

Opinion

ALVIN B. RUBIN, Circuit Judge:

A roustabout nominally employed by a contractor sued the oil company for whom the contractor had agreed to provide labor services on theories of negligence and strict liability for injuries allegedly received while working on the oil company’s offshore production platform. The jury found that the oil company was the employer of the roustabout because it had borrowed his services, and, hence, was shielded from tort liability. Ruling on third-party demands for indemnification and costs of defense, the district court dismissed the oil company’s claim against the contractor and the contractor's counterclaim for recoupment of compensation paid the roustabout.

We hold that an oil company subject to the Longshoremen’s and Harbor Workers' Compensation Act may invoke the borrowed-employee doctrine in defense of a tort claim by a worker nominally employed by a labor-services contractor. Because, however, the trial court told the jury that, if it decided that the injured worker was the borrowed employee of the defendant oil company, he would be paid worker’s compensation by the oil company, we reverse the judgment entered on a jury verdict for the defendant and grant a new trial.

Considering the third-party demands, we hold that the contract between the oil company and the labor-services contractor is subject to the Louisiana Oilfield Indemnity Act, and, therefore, is void to the extent that it requires the contractor to indemnify the oil company and defend it against claims attributable to the oil company’s own negligence. Because under the law of this circuit the determination whether a defense is due must be made at the outset of litigation by reference solely to the allegations of the pleadings and the contractual provisions, and the roustabout’s complaint alleged that the oil company was itself negligent and strictly liable, we affirm the dismissal of the oil company’s third-party complaint.

I.

Gulf Oil Corporation engaged Danos & Curóle Marine Contractors in 1980 to furnish it with general oil field labor and to provide other services. The contract gave Danos & Curóle authority to control and direct the performance of details of the work. Danos & Curóle employed Richard Joseph Doucet as a roustabout, an oil field laborer. After Doucet had worked on other jobs, Danos & Curóle assigned him to work as a roustabout/assistant pumper on offshore platforms in a Gulf Oil field. Doucet testified that he worked under the supervision of Bryan Utech, the Danos & Curóle field supervisor, but, when neither Utech nor the other Danos & Curóle supervisor was present, he took orders from the Gulf employee who was working as a pumper on the same platform. After working on this assignment for a month, Doucet was injured. He received compensation benefits from Danos & Curole’s insurer under the Longshoremen’s and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act.1

Doucet then sued Gulf for maritime tort. Gulf defended by arguing that Doucet was its borrowed employee and that his exclusive remedy against Gulf was, therefore, compensation under the Act.2

Some of the evidence pointed to Danos & Curóle as Doucet’s real and not merely nominal employer. Danos & Curóle determined when its employees would receive [521]*521wage increases. It fixed each employee’s work schedule. Danos & Curóle employees did not attend Gulf safety meetings. Danos & Curóle provided all of Doucet’s personal equipment. Gulf had not trained Doucet. There was, however, contradictory evidence that: Doucet worked directly under the supervision of the Gulf operator/pumper; his work schedule was set by Gulf and Gulf certified the amount of wages due him; Gulf retained authority to discharge him from the platform if Doucet failed to comply with instructions from the Gulf supervisor; Gulf was required to approve any increase in his salary; Gulf provided transportation offshore; and Gulf supplied the tools and materials necessary to do his job as a pumper’s helper.

During that part of the jury charge explaining the borrowed-employee rule, the court twice referred to Gulf’s possible liability to Doucet for compensation benefits. First it told the jury:

Thus, to sustain its contention, Gulf Oil must show, by a preponderance of the evidence, that Doucet was its borrowed employee. If it is able to sustain that showing, then Gulf’s liability is limited to compensation under the Longshoremen’s and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act, because in that case Mr. Doucet [sic] exclusive remedy is under that Act and as you all have heard from the testimony that has been adduced, has been paid and continues to be paid.

The court also instructed the jury:

If you find that Mr. Doucet was, indeed, the borrowed employee of Gulf, you need not continue your deliberations, for Mr. Doucet would then receive compensation under the Longshoremen and Harbor-workers Act from Gulf as provided by federal statute.

It later stated:

It is possible, under the law, to be an employee of both Gulf and Danos & Curóle. In other words, based on your evaluation of the facts, you could find that both Gulf and Danos & Curóle had assumed the responsibility of an employer toward Doucet at the time of his alleged injury____ I am merely telling you that you do not have to choose between Gulf and Danos & Curóle as Doucet’s employer.

Immediately after completing the charge, the judge instructed the jury to retire and begin deliberating. Before doing so, he did not ask if counsel had any objections to the instructions, nor did counsel for any party intervene to request an opportunity to object. However, as soon as the jury retired the judge solicited counsels’ objections to the charge. Counsel for Doucet objected both to the court’s charge that an employee may simultaneously have several employers and to its instruction that Gulf would pay Doucet compensation if the jury found Doucet to be Gulf’s borrowed employee.

In response to a special interrogatory, the jury found that Doucet was Gulf’s borrowed employee. On this appeal, Doucet contends that, under the Compensation Act as amended in 1984, the borrowed-employee doctrine is no longer a defense to a tort claim. He also reasserts the objections made in the trial court to the jury charge, adding an additional alleged error: the trial court’s failure to instruct the jury that Gulf had a duty to comply with section 932 of the Compensation Act by securing workmen’s compensation insurance for Doucet if it sought litigious immunity.

The contract between Gulf and Danos & Curóle required Danos & Curóle to indemnify Gulf “against all costs, expenses, and attorney’s fees incurred by Gulf in the defense of ... causes of action ... on account of personal injuries ... whether arising out of negligence on the part of Gulf or otherwise, including ... any theory of strict liability, ... arising out of the work performed by [Danos & Curóle] hereunder____” When Doucet sued, Gulf demanded that Danos & Curóle defend the suit. Danos & Curóle refused to defend, prompting Gulf to file its third-party complaint. After initially granting Gulf’s demand for contractual indemnity, the district court reversed itself and dismissed the third-party complaint. The court also denied Danos & Curole’s counterclaim [522]*522against Gulf for reimbursement of the compensation it had paid Doucet.

II.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
783 F.2d 518, 1986 U.S. App. LEXIS 22343, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/doucet-v-gulf-oil-corp-ca5-1986.