Ex Parte Salvation Army, 2100033 (ala.civ.app. 2-18-2011)

72 So. 3d 1224, 2011 Ala. Civ. App. LEXIS 50, 2011 WL 752052
Court of Civil Appeals of Alabama·Decided February 18, 2011·No. 2100033·Published·Cited by 5 cases

Opinion

BRYAN, Judge.

The Salvation Army seeks a writ of mandamus ordering the Etowah Circuit Court to enter a summary judgment in its favor with respect to Roy Williams’s tort claims against it. The Salvation Army contends that it is immune to those claims under the exclusive-remedy provisions of the Alabama Workers’ Compensation Act, § 25-5-1 et seq., Ala.Code 1975 (“the Act”). We grant the petition and issue the writ.

Williams was employed by First Choice Personnel, LLC (“First Choice”), a temporary-employment agency. In September 2006, First Choice assigned Williams to work for The Salvation Army, a client of First Choice. Williams worked as a general laborer for The Salvation Army for approximately the next 10 weeks. On November 21, 2006, Williams was allegedly injured in an automobile accident while performing work for The Salvation Army.

On October 2, 2007, Williams sued First Choice and The Salvation Army. Williams alleged a claim for workers’ compensation benefits against First Choice, and he alleged claims of negligence and wantonness against The Salvation Army. The Salvation Army filed an answer asserting, among other things, that “the claims in [Williams’s] Complaint are barred by the exclusivity provisions of the ... Act.” On April 9, 2010, The Salvation Army filed a motion for a summary judgment, asserting that it was Williams’s “special employer” under the Act and, therefore, that the exclusive-remedy provisions of the Act bar Williams’s tort claims against The Salvation Army. Following a hearing, the trial court entered an order denying The Salvation Army’s summary-judgment motion. The Salvation Army petitioned the supreme court for a writ of mandamus directing the trial court to enter a summary judgment dismissing the tort claims on the ground that those claims are barred under the exclusive-remedy provisions of the Act. The supreme court then transferred the petition to this court on the ground that the petition fell within this court’s jurisdiction.

“A writ of mandamus is an extraordinary remedy, and it will be ‘issued only [1227] when there is: 1) a clear legal right in the petitioner to the order sought; 2) an imperative duty upon the respondent to perform, accompanied by a refusal to do so; 3) the lack of another adequate remedy; and 4) properly invoked jurisdiction of the court.’ Ex parte United Serv. Stations, Inc., 628 So.2d 501, 503 (Ala.1993). A writ of mandamus will issue only in situations where other relief is unavailable or is inadequate, and it cannot be used as a substitute for appeal. Ex parte Drill Parts & Serv. Co., 590 So.2d 252 (Ala.1991).”

Ex parte Empire Fire & Marine Ins. Co., 720 So.2d 893, 894 (Ala.1998).

“In reviewing the disposition of a motion for summary judgment, ‘we utilize the same standard as the trial court in determining whether the evidence before [it] made out a genuine issue of material fact,’ Bussey v. John Deere Co., 531 So.2d 860, 862 (Ala.1988), and whether the movant was ‘entitled to a judgment as a matter of law.’ Wright v. Wright, 654 So.2d 542 (Ala.1995); Rule 56(c), Ala. R. Civ. P. When the movant makes a prima facie showing that there is no genuine issue of material fact, the burden shifts to the nonmovant to present substantial evidence creating such an issue. Bass v. SouthTrust Bank of Baldwin County, 538 So.2d 794, 797-98 (Ala.1989). Evidence is ‘substantial’ if it is of ‘such weight and quality that fair-minded persons in the exercise of impartial judgment can reasonably infer the existence of the fact sought to be proved.’ Wright, 654 So.2d at 543 (quoting West v. Founders Life Assurance Co. of Florida, 547 So.2d 870, 871 (Ala.1989)). Our review 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. Wilma Corp. v. Fleming Foods of Alabama, Inc., 613 So.2d 359 (Ala.1993); Hanners v. Balfour Guthrie, Inc., 564 So.2d 412, 413 (Ala.1990).”

Hobson v. American Cast Iron Pipe Co., 690 So.2d 341, 344 (Ala.1997).

Initially, we address whether we may review, by a petition for a writ of mandamus, the trial court’s denial of The Salvation Army’s summary-judgment motion. The Salvation Army moved for a summary judgment on the ground that it is immune from tort liability under the exclusive-remedy provisions of the Act. “Mandamus review of the denial of a summary-judgment motion ‘grounded on a claim of immunity’ is an exception to the general rule against interlocutory review of the denial of summary-judgment motions. Ex parte Auburn Univ., 6 So.3d 478, 483 (Ala.2008).” Ex parte Simpson, 36 So.3d 15, 22 (Ala.2009) (emphasis omitted) (reviewing by mandamus petition the denial of a summary-judgment motion concerning legislative immunity and immunity under the Noerr-Pennington doctrine, under which “those who petition any department of the government for redress are generally immune from statutory liability for their petitioning conduct,” Sosa v. DIRECTV, Inc., 437 F.3d 923, 929 (9th Cir. 2006)). See also Ex parte Wood, 852 So.2d 705 (Ala.2002) (reviewing by mandamus petition the denial of a summary-judgment motion grounded on State-agent immunity).

Citing Ex parte South Carolina Insurance Co., 412 So.2d 269 (Ala.1982), Williams argues that the denial of a summary-judgment motion grounded on a claim of immunity under the exclusive-remedy provisions, as opposed to some other types of immunity, is not reviewable by mandamus petition. In that case, certain defendants, following the denial of their summary-judgment motions, peti[1228] tioned the supreme court for a writ of mandamus, arguing that the Act provided them immunity from the claims against them. The supreme court denied the petition, stating that “it is obvious that the defendants are seeking to do by mandamus that which can be done on appeal” and that “[m]andamus cannot be used as a substitute for appeal.” 412 So.2d at 270. Accordingly, Williams has filed a motion to dismiss the mandamus petition.

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Ex Parte Salvation Army, 2100033 (ala.civ.app. 2-18-2011), 72 So. 3d 1224, 2011 Ala. Civ. App. LEXIS 50, 2011 WL 752052 (Ala. Ct. App. 2011).

72 So. 3d 1224 (Ex Parte Salvation Army, 2100033 (ala.civ.app. 2-18-2011)) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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