Ex Parte Canada

890 So. 2d 968, 2004 WL 42908
CourtSupreme Court of Alabama
DecidedMarch 26, 2004
Docket1021732
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 890 So. 2d 968 (Ex Parte Canada) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Alabama primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Ex Parte Canada, 890 So. 2d 968, 2004 WL 42908 (Ala. 2004).

Opinion

890 So.2d 968 (2004)

Ex parte Phillip A. CANADA.
(In re Phillip A. Canada
v.
Vic Goode).

1021732.

Supreme Court of Alabama.

January 9, 2004.
As Modified on Denial of Rehearing March 26, 2004.

Michael C. Bradley of Pittman, Hooks, Dutton, Kirby & Hellums, P.C., Birmingham, for petitioner.

*969 Paul P. Bolus and Stephen J. Bumgarner of Burr & Forman, LLP, Birmingham, for respondent.

Ed R. Haden and Scott B. Grover of Balch & Bingham, LLP, Birmingham, for amicus curiae Business Council of Alabama, in support of the respondent's application for rehearing.

LYONS, Justice.

The Court of Civil Appeals affirmed, without opinion, the trial court's summary judgment in favor of Vic Goode in Phillip A. Canada's action against the manufacturer of a table saw and several of his co-employees alleging that his co-employees were liable for the failure to maintain a safety device. Canada v. Goode (No. 2020038, July 3, 2003), ___ So.2d ___ (Ala.Civ.App.2003) (table). We granted the petition for the writ of certiorari, and we now reverse the Court of Civil Appeals' judgment and remand the case to that court.

On October 24, 1997, while employed as an installer at UNR-ROHN, Inc. ("Rohn"), Canada suffered severe lacerations and fractures to his right hand while operating a table saw. Canada received workers' compensation benefits from Rohn. Canada sued Jet Equipment & Tools, Inc. ("Jet Equipment"), the manufacturer of the table saw, alleging breach of various warranties. Canada also sued Vic Goode, the shift supervisor at Rohn; Tim Sloan, the shift leadman; Terry Goodwin, the plant supervisor; and Walker Bragan, the manufacturing manager, based upon the theory that the co-employees were liable because, Canada alleged, they had removed a safety device. See § 25-5-11(c)(2), Ala.Code 1975 (defining "willful conduct" to include "[t]he willful and intentional removal from a machine of a safety guard or safety device provided by the manufacturer of the machine with knowledge that injury or death would likely or probably result from the removal").

Jet Equipment filed a motion for a summary judgment arguing that Canada could not meet his burden of proof under the Alabama Extended Manufacturer's Liability Doctrine. All the co-employee defendants also filed motions for a summary judgment arguing that Canada could not prove the elements of § 25-5-11(c)(2). The trial court entered a summary judgment as to Jet Equipment, Bragan, and Sloan and denied the summary-judgment motions as to Goodwin and Goode.

Goodwin and Goode renewed their motions for a summary judgment, citing the same grounds as they had cited in their previous motions. In response, Canada argued that Goode had specific safety responsibilities that included inspecting the saw on a daily basis. According to Canada, the plant manager instructed Goode to ensure that the safety guards on the plant's machinery were in place at the beginning of each of the three shifts at Rohn. Canada also referred to Goode's deposition testimony in which Goode said that the table saw was used throughout all three shifts at the plant and that the guard on the saw had to be replaced on a regular basis. Goode also described how the guard should have appeared on the table saw on the day of Canada's accident:

"First, the guard was bolted from the back of the saw and came over the front of the saw, over the blade, had two [Plexiglas] sides on it, and then it had two metal arms that were anti-kickback devices, spring-loaded, with teeth on them, to keep anything from kicking back."

However, in contrast to Goode's testimony, Canada stated in his deposition that, on the day of his injury and on other days on which he had operated the table saw, there was a piece of acrylic plastic only on the *970 left side of the blade, and there was nothing covering the right side of the blade. The trial court ultimately entered a summary judgment as to both Goodwin and Goode. Canada appealed to the Court of Civil Appeals only as to the summary judgment in favor of Goode. The Court of Civil Appeals affirmed the trial court's judgment. This Court granted Canada's petition for certiorari review.

I. Standard of Review

This Court reviews a summary judgment by the same standard applicable to the trial court in deciding to grant or deny the summary judgment. Sessions v. Espy, 854 So.2d 515 (Ala.2002). We must "`determin [e] whether the evidence presented to the trial court created a genuine issue of material fact'" and whether the moving party is entitled to prevail as a matter of law. Potter v. First Real Estate Co., 844 So.2d 540, 545 (Ala.2002) (quoting Nationwide Prop. & Cas. Ins. Co. v. DPF Architects, P.C., 792 So.2d 369, 372 (Ala.2000)); Rule 56(c), Ala.R.Civ.P. See also American Liberty Ins. Co. v. AmSouth Bank, 825 So.2d 786, 790 (Ala.2002). Also, as we recently reiterated in Wilson v. Manning, 880 So.2d 1101 (Ala.2003), "`[o]ur review [of a summary judgment] is further subject to the caveat that this Court must review the record in a light most favorable to the nonmovant and must resolve all reasonable doubts against the movant.'" (Quoting Hobson v. American Cast Iron Pipe Co., 690 So.2d 341, 344 (Ala.1997).) Canada contends that the Court of Civil Appeals failed to apply the foregoing standard correctly in its review of the trial court's summary-judgment order. We agree.

II. Did Canada present a genuine issue of material fact

Canada is required to prove the elements of § 25-5-11(c)(2) to establish a prima facie case of co-employee liability for the removal of a safety device. Goode contends that the evidence in this case is undisputed and that Canada cannot prove the required elements under § 25-5-11(c)(2). Canada asserts that he has established a genuine issue of material fact as to whether Goode knew that the guard was missing from the table saw at the time of Canada's injury. Goode's contentions that Canada's evidence is insufficient to establish a genuine issue of material fact are based upon (a) the absence of evidence of Goode's intent to injure Canada, (b) Canada's alleged failure to prove that the safety guard Goode is charged with removing was provided by the manufacturer, and (c) Canada's alleged failure to prove that Goode's conduct constitutes the willful and intentional removal of a safety guard or safety device from a machine.

A. Evidence of Intent to Injure

Goode seeks to uphold the trial court's summary judgment by contending that Canada cannot prove that Goode intended to injure him. However, § 25-5-11(c)(2) defines "willful conduct" in the context of the removal of a safety guard or safety device from a machine; it does not require proof of an intent to injure the employee. Section 25-5-11(c)(2) states:

"(c) As used herein, `willful conduct' means ...
"....
"(2) The willful and intentional removal from a machine of a safety guard or safety device provided by the manufacturer of the machine with knowledge that injury or death would likely or probably result from the removal; provided, however, that removal of a guard or device shall not be willful conduct unless the removal did, in fact, increase the danger in the use of the machine and was not done *971 for the purpose of repair of the machine or was not part of an improvement or modification of the machine which rendered the safety device unnecessary or ineffective."

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890 So. 2d 968, 2004 WL 42908, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ex-parte-canada-ala-2004.