Dyer v. Service Marine Industries, Inc.

723 So. 2d 1135, 97 La.App. 1 Cir. 2622, 1998 La. App. LEXIS 3743, 1999 WL 4194
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedDecember 28, 1998
Docket97 CA 2622
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 723 So. 2d 1135 (Dyer v. Service Marine Industries, Inc.) 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
Dyer v. Service Marine Industries, Inc., 723 So. 2d 1135, 97 La.App. 1 Cir. 2622, 1998 La. App. LEXIS 3743, 1999 WL 4194 (La. Ct. App. 1998).

Opinion

723 So.2d 1135 (1998)

Mark W. DYER
v.
SERVICE MARINE INDUSTRIES, INC.

No. 97 CA 2622.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, First Circuit.

December 28, 1998.

*1136 Jason Lyons, Barry P. Vice, Houma, for Plaintiffs-Appellants Mark W. Dyer & Nadine D. Dyer.

David K. Johnson, Baton Rouge, Robert I. Siegel and Michael B. Alker, New Orleans, for Defendant-Appellee Service Marine Industries, Inc.

BEFORE: SHORTESS, FITZSIMMONS, GUIDRY, and WEIMER, JJ., and CHIASSON,[1] J. Pro Tem.

REMY CHIASSON, Judge Pro Tem.

Plaintiffs, Mark and Nadine Dyer, appeal from the trial court's grant of a summary judgment in favor of defendant, Service Marine Industries, Inc., finding that Mark Dyer was its borrowed employee.

PROCEDURAL HISTORY

On or about February 16, 1994, plaintiff, Mark Dyer (Dyer), was employed by Curtis Callais Welding, Inc. (Callais) and worked at Service Marine Industries, Inc.'s (Service Marine) shipyard in Amelia, Louisiana, where he was injured while working on a vessel.

On June 20, 1994, Dyer and his wife, Nadine, filed suit in tort against Service Marine for injuries he sustained. The petition was later amended on two occasions to add new parties, Imperial Palace of Mississippi, Inc. and H.C. Waters.[2] Issue has been joined as to all defendants.

This matter was initially set for trial on December 2, 1996, but was continued until February 18, 1997. At a pre-trial conference held on January 6, 1997, the trial date was continued until July 21, 1997.

On January 22, 1997, Service Marine filed a motion to amend its original answer, alleging as an affirmative defense the exclusive remedy provisions of the Longshore and Harborworkers' Compensation Act (LHWCA) and/or the Louisiana Workers' Compensation Act. The trial court permitted the amendment.

On this date, Service Marine also filed a motion for summary judgment asserting that Dyer was its borrowed employee and thus, it was immune from tort liability under the LHWCA.

*1137 After a hearing, the trial court granted summary judgment and dismissed plaintiffs' claims against Service Marine on March 20, 1997.

It is from this judgment that plaintiffs now appeal.

SUMMARY JUDGMENT

A motion for summary judgment is a procedural device used to avoid a full-scale trial when there is no genuine factual dispute. Kidd v. Logan M. Killen, Inc., 93-1322, p. 4 (La.App. 1st Cir.5/20/94); 640 So.2d 616, 618. It is well settled that the granting of summary judgment is proper only if the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories and admissions on file, together with affidavits, if any, show there is no genuine issue of material fact and that the mover is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. La. C .C.P. art. 966; Lewis v. Diamond Services Corporation, 93-1150, p. 5 (La.App. 1st Cir.5/20/94); 637 So.2d 825, 828, writ denied, 94-1638 (La.10/14/94); 643 So.2d 159.

A fact is material if its existence is essential to the plaintiff's cause of action under the applicable theory of recovery and without which the plaintiff could not prevail. Material facts are those that potentially insure or preclude recovery, affect the litigant's ultimate success, or determine the outcome of a legal dispute. Penalber v. Blount, 550 So.2d 577, 583 (La.1989); Kidd v. Logan M. Killen, Inc., 640 So.2d at 619.

The burden is upon the mover for summary judgment to show that no genuine issue of material fact exists, and only when reasonable minds must inevitably conclude that the mover is entitled to judgment as a matter of law is summary judgment warranted. Kidd v. Logan M. Killen, Inc., 640 So.2d at 619.

The jurisprudence has traditionally held that summary judgments were not favored and should be used cautiously and sparingly. Penalber v. Blount, 550 So.2d at 583. However, by Acts 1996, First Extraordinary Session, No. 9, the legislature amended La. C.C.P. art. 966(A)(2) to read as follows:

The summary judgment procedure is designed to secure the just, speedy, and inexpensive determination of every action, except those disallowed by Article 969. The procedure is favored and shall be construed to accomplish these ends.

In the 1997 Regular Session, the Louisiana Legislature amended the summary judgment law by amending and reenacting Sections C and E of La. C.C.P. art. 966 and by repealing Sections E and F of the article. In part, the purpose of these amendments was to clarify legislative changes made to La. C.C.P. art. 966 in 1996 (specifically, see 1996 La. Acts, 1st Ex.Sess., No. 9, § 1), and to set forth the burdens of proof which must be met by the respective parties when a motion for summary judgment is made. 1997 La. Acts No. 483, § 4; J. Ray McDermott, Inc. v. Morrison, 96-2337, p. 9 (La.App. 1st Cir.11/7/97); 705 So.2d 195, 202 writs denied, 97-3055, 97-3062 (La.2/13/98); 709 So.2d 753, 754. These burdens of proof are stated in Section C of amended La. C.C.P. art. 966 as follows:

C. (1) After adequate discovery or after a case is set for trial, a motion which shows that there is no genuine issue as to material fact and the mover is entitled to judgment as a matter of law shall be granted.
(2) The burden of proof remains with the movant. However, if the movant will not bear the burden of proof at trial on the matter that is before the court on the motion for summary judgment, the movant's burden on the motion does not require him to negate all essential elements of the adverse party's claim, action, or defense, but rather to point out to the court that there is an absence of factual support for one or more elements essential to the adverse party's claim, action, or defense. Thereafter, if the adverse party fails to produce factual support sufficient to establish that he will be able to satisfy his evidentiary burden of proof at trial, there is no genuine issue of material fact.

The new summary judgment law is retroactive, and therefore, is applicable to this case. See Blue, Williams & Buckley v. Brian Investments, Ltd., 96-1451, p. 6 (La.App. 1st Cir.6/20/97); 706 So.2d 999, 1002, writ denied, 97-2192 (La.11/21/97); 703 So.2d 1311.

Appellate courts are to review summary judgments de novo under the same criteria *1138 that govern the district court's consideration of whether summary judgment is appropriate. Potter v. First Federal Savings and Loan Association of Scotlandville, 615 So.2d 318, 325 (La.1993). Because it is the applicable substantive law that determines materiality, whether a particular fact in dispute is material can be seen only in light of the substantive law applicable to the case. Sun Belt Constructors, Division of MCC Constructors, Inc. v. T & R Dragline Service, Inc., 527 So.2d 350, 352 (La.App. 5th Cir. 1988).

BORROWED EMPLOYEE

If Dyer is found to be the "borrowed employee" of Service Marine, he is covered by the LHWCA and is entitled to benefits under the Act. Benefits under the LHWCA is the exclusive remedy for an employee against his employer because the Act bars all common law tort actions against the employer. Melancon v. Amoco Production Co., 834 F.2d 1238, 1243 (5th Cir.1988)(allocation of costs amended on rehearing, 841 F.2d 572 (5th Cir.1988)).

The issue of whether a borrowed servant relationship existed is a matter of law for the court to determine. Fanguy v. Dupre Brothers Construction Company, Inc., 588 So.2d 1251, 1257 (La.App. 1st Cir. 1991), writ denied,

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723 So. 2d 1135, 97 La.App. 1 Cir. 2622, 1998 La. App. LEXIS 3743, 1999 WL 4194, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/dyer-v-service-marine-industries-inc-lactapp-1998.