Fox v. Commercial Union Ins. Co.

396 So. 2d 543, 1981 La. App. LEXIS 3701
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedMarch 11, 1981
Docket7947
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 396 So. 2d 543 (Fox v. Commercial Union Ins. Co.) 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
Fox v. Commercial Union Ins. Co., 396 So. 2d 543, 1981 La. App. LEXIS 3701 (La. Ct. App. 1981).

Opinion

396 So.2d 543 (1981)

Bobbye T. FOX et al., Plaintiffs-Appellants,
v.
COMMERCIAL UNION INSURANCE COMPANY et al., Defendants-Appellees.

No. 7947.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Third Circuit.

March 11, 1981.

Kramer & Laird, Bernard Kramer, Alexandria, for plaintiffs-appellants.

Trimble, Randow, Smith & Wilson, Alonzo P. Wilson, Alexandria, and Bryant W. Conway, Baker, for defendants-appellees.

Before CULPEPPER, FORET and SWIFT, JJ.

FORET, Judge.

This is a wrongful death action. Bobbye T. Fox, Michael Fox, and Kim Fox Crooks (Plaintiffs) are the surviving widow and children of James R. Fox. Plaintiffs' decedent was killed when a pickup truck driven by George M. Burns (Defendant) and insured by Commercial Union Insurance Company (Commercial) was struck by a train.[1] Plaintiffs appeal from a summary judgment dismissing their action against Burns and Commercial. The issues on appeal are:

(1) Whether the trial court erred in granting summary judgment to Burns predicated on the exclusive remedy provisions of the Workmen's Compensation Act.

(2) Whether the trial court erred in granting summary judgment to Commercial predicated on plaintiffs' failure to state a cause of action against the tortfeasor.

*544 FACTS

The undisputed facts are set forth in an affidavit by J. W. McDonald, which was filed into the record. That affidavit reads in part:

"... That he does business as J. W. MCDONALD CONTRACTOR out of Glenmora, Louisiana; that on or about August 10th, 1979 he was the employer of JAMES R. FOX and GEORGE BURNS: that the said JAMES R. FOX and GEORGE BURNS were working on a road construction project south of Lake Charles, Louisiana in Cameron Parish, Louisiana prior to and on August 10th, 1979; that the employment agreement between J. W. McDONALD d/b/a J.W. MCDONALD CONTRACTOR and JAMES R. FOX and GEORGE BURNS provided that J. W. MCDONALD d/b/a J. W. MCDONALD CONTRACTOR would provide transportation, including a vehicle and gasoline, to the job site in Cameron Parish, Louisiana and back to Glenmora, Louisiana; that on or about August 10th, 1979 at approximately 6:15 P.M. GEORGE BURNS and JAMES R. FOX were traveling in a pickup truck furnished by J. W. MCDONALD d/b/a J.W. MCDONALD CONTRACTOR for returning to Glenmora, Louisiana from the job site in Cameron Parish, Louisiana; that the said pickup truck and the gasoline being used were furnished to the said GEORGE BURNS and JAMES R. FOX by J.W. MCDONALD d/b/a J.W. MCDONALD CONTRACTOR as an incident to their employment contract for their transportation from the job site back to Glenmora, Louisiana; that on or about August 10th, 1979 at approximately 6:00 P.M. JAMES R. FOX and GEORGE BURNS were involved in a collision between the pickup truck they were in and a train..."

Plaintiffs instituted this action on October 31, 1979, alleging that the negligence of Burns and the negligence of the railroad employees operating the train were the proximate cause of the collision.

Burns and Commercial then filed motions for summary judgment. The trial court heard the motions and rendered judgment on April 25, 1980, sustaining the motions and dismissed the plaintiffs' action against these two defendants. Plaintiffs were granted a devolutive appeal.

SUMMARY JUDGMENT IN FAVOR OF BURNS

Plaintiffs first argue that a distinction must be made between the test used to determine if an employee is in the course and scope of his employment so as to create vicarious liability for his employer (under the doctrine of respondant superior) and the test used to determine if he is entitled to workmen's compensation benefits because he has suffered an accidental injury arising out of and in the course of his employment. We fail to see how this distinction is beneficial to plaintiffs' position in the action before us.

Here, plaintiffs are attempting to maintain a tort action against a co-employee of the decedent. They bring no action against the common employer nor do they bring an action for workmen's compensation benefits based on the accidental death of the decedent. The cases cited by plaintiffs[2] in which the above distinction is made, have no bearing on the issues before us.

Plaintiffs next argue that the immunity from civil liability provided by LSA-R.S. *545 23:1032[3] to employees who negligently injure a co-employee is more restrictive than that granted to employers or principals who negligently injure their employees. Plaintiffs cite no jurisprudence in support of this contention and simply point to the last paragraph of LSA-R.S. 23:1032, supra, which reads:

"The immunity from civil liability provided by this Section shall not extend to: 1) any officer, director, stockholder, partner or employee of such employer or principal who is not engaged at the time of the injury in the normal course and scope of his employment; and 2) to the liability of any partner in a partnership which has been formed for the purpose of evading any of the provisions of this Section." (Emphasis provided.)

Plaintiffs argue that Burns was "not engaged at the time of the injury in the normal course and scope of his employment" which, according to them, is more restrictive than simply acting in the course and scope of one's employment.

The problems which may arise if plaintiffs' argument is accepted were noted in 14 La. Civil Law Treatise: Workers' Compensation; Malone and Johnson, § 364, where the author stated:

"The section further provides that the immunity does not extend, however, to `any officer, director, stockholder, partner or employee * * * who is not engaged at the time of the injury in the normal course and scope of his employment,' or to the liability of any partner in a partnership formed for the purpose of evading the Act. 74 It is not clear whether the use of the word `normal' is intentional and is meant to convey some meaning other than that officers may not use this immunity as a shield in a tort suit involving a non-work-related injury. It remains at least theoretically possible to argue that an officer who goes outside of his `normal' duties and negligently injures an employee might be liable in tort. Such an officer might well still be insured under the standard liability policy issued to an employer, which often insures an executive officer, director or stockholder `while acting within the scope of his duties as such. * * *' 75 The argument, of course, would be that his duties are broad, but his `normal' duties, as to which he has immunity, might be more specific. One hopes that this rather tenuous argument, which would open another amorphous loophole, will not be accepted."

The same problems would arise in attempting to determine when an employee who injures a co-employee was engaged, at the time of the injury, in the performance of his "normal" employment duties.

We find that the last paragraph of LSA-R.S. 23:1032, supra, simply means that an employee will be granted immunity from civil liability when he negligently injuries a *546 co-employee if, at the time of the injury, he was engaged in the course and scope of his employment. Braxton v. Georgia-Pacific Corporation, 379 So.2d 1150 (La.App. 2 Cir. 1980); Shepard v. Louisiana Power & Light Company, Inc., 369 So.2d 1196 (La.App. 2 Cir. 1979).

Plaintiffs' last argument is that an employee going to and from his place of employment in transportation furnished by his employer is not acting within the course and scope of his employment. We disagree.

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Bluebook (online)
396 So. 2d 543, 1981 La. App. LEXIS 3701, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/fox-v-commercial-union-ins-co-lactapp-1981.