Gonzalez v. J.W. Cheatham LLC

125 So. 3d 942, 2013 WL 2320804, 2013 Fla. App. LEXIS 8474
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
DecidedMay 29, 2013
DocketNo. 4D12-244
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 125 So. 3d 942 (Gonzalez v. J.W. Cheatham LLC) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court of Appeal of Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Gonzalez v. J.W. Cheatham LLC, 125 So. 3d 942, 2013 WL 2320804, 2013 Fla. App. LEXIS 8474 (Fla. Ct. App. 2013).

Opinion

TAYLOR, J.

The plaintiff, Jorge Gonzales;, and his wife, Luz Gonzalez, appeal a final order granting the defendant’s motion for summary judgment and dismissing their negligence complaint with prejudice on the ground that the suit was barred by workers’ compensation immunity. We reverse, because there is a genuine issue of material fact as to whether the plaintiff was under a written contract “with a motor carrier,” and whether the plaintiff is thus excluded from the definition of “employee” under section 440.02(15)(d)4., Florida Statutes (2009).

This case arises out of a single-vehicle dump truck accident that injured the plaintiff, Jorge Gonzalez, at the ‘Winding Waters” construction project in September 2009. The defendant, J.W. Cheatham, LLC, was the general contractor for the construction project. Cheatham entered into a subcontract with Austin Tupler Trucking to provide earth moving services related to the Winding Waters project. Specifically, Austin Tupler agreed to furnish all supervision, labor, tools, equipment, materials and supplies necessary to haul fill from Winding Waters to the Palm Beach County Solid Waste Authority.

In March 2009, the plaintiff entered into a service contract in which he agreed to transport materials for Austin Tupler with his dump truck. The service contract identified Austin Tupler as a “broker” and identified the plaintiff as an “independent contractor.” The service contract indicated that Austin Tupler, as the “broker,” was “engaged in the business of arranging for the transportation by others of certain road building and construction and construction aggregates, and related commodities!;.]”

The service contract required the plaintiff to provide all equipment, maintain his vehicle at his own expense, pay for gasoline and fuel expenses, pay for all licensing and other governmental fees, and carry liability and cargo insurance. Austin Tu-pler paid the plaintiff on a commission basis, not on an hourly basis. The plaintiff had the discretion to choose the days of the week he wished to work, as well as the manner, means, routes and schedule for transporting a load or shipment.

On the date of the accident, the plaintiff was hauling a load of construction materials on the Winding Waters construction site. The plaintiffs dump truck overturned and' he sustained injuries. The plaintiff and his wife then filed suit against Cheatham, seeking damages for negligence and loss of consortium. Cheatham moved for summary judgment, asserting that the suit was barred by workers’ compensation immunity. Cheatham argued that because the plaintiff was an independent contractor working in the construction industry, the plaintiff qualified as Cheatham’s statutory employee. Cheatham further argued that Austin Tupler was a “broker,” not a “motor carrier,” and thus that the plaintiff did not fall within the “owner-operator” exclusion in section 440.02(15)(d)4., Florida Statutes (2009).

The trial court granted Cheatham’s motion for summary judgment, concluding as a matter of law that the plaintiff was a statutory employee of Cheatham and that workers’ compensation immunity barred the plaintiffs claim. Because the service contract between the plaintiff and Austin Tupler identified Austin Tupler as a “bro[944]*944ker” rather than a “motor carrier,” the trial court found that the plaintiff was not transporting property “under a written contract with a motor carrier” as required to qualify for the section 440.02(15)(d)4 exclusion from the definition of employee. Concluding that workers’ compensation immunity barred the lawsuit, the trial court dismissed the plaintiffs complaint with prejudice. This appeal ensued.

The standard of review of an order granting summary judgment is de novo. Fla. Atl. Univ. Bd. of Trs. v. Lindsey, 50 So.3d 1205, 1206 (Fla. 4th DCA 2010). When reviewing an order granting summary judgment, an appellate court must examine the record in the light most favorable to the non-moving party. Allenby & Assocs., Inc. v. Crown St. Vincent Ltd., 8 So.3d 1211, 1213 (Fla. 4th DCA 2009). “[T]he burden is upon the party moving for summary judgment to show conclusively the complete absence of any genuine issue of material fact.” Albelo v. S. Bell, 682 So.2d 1126, 1129 (Fla. 4th DCA 1996). A summary judgment should not be granted unless the facts are so crystallized that nothing remains but questions of law. Moore v. Morris, 475 So.2d 666, 668 (Fla.1985).

Under Florida’s Workers’ Compensation statute, the term “employee” includes an independent contractor working or performing sendees in the construction industry. § 440.02(15)(c)3., Fla. Stat. (2009). However, section 440.02(15)(d)4., Florida Statutes (2009),1 provides that the term “employee” does not include:

An owner-operator of a motor vehicle who transports property under a written contract with a motor carrier which evidences a relationship by which the owner-operator assumes the responsibility of an employer for the performance of the contract, if the owner-operator is required to furnish motor vehicle equipment as identified in the written contract and the principal costs incidental to the performance of the contract, including, but not limited to, fuel and repairs, provided a motor carrier’s advance of costs to the owner-operator when a written contract evidences the owner-operator’s obligation to reimburse such advance shall be treated as the owner-operator furnishing such cost and the owner-operator is not paid by the hour or on some other time-measured basis.

The issue in this case turns on whether the plaintiff was under a written contract “with a motor carrier,” as it is undisputed that the plaintiff otherwise meets the necessary elements for owner-operator status. Cf. Reynolds v. CSR Rinker Transport, 31 So.3d 268, 270 (Fla. 1st DCA 2010) (setting forth five-part test for owner-operator status).

As used in the Florida Statutes, the term “motor carrier” generally means “any person owning, controlling, operating, or managing any motor vehicle used to transport persons or property over any public highway.” § 320.01(33), Fla. Stat. (2009). Similarly, federal law defines a “motor carrier” as “a person providing motor vehicle transportation for compensation.” 49 U.S.C. § 13102(14) (2009).

The Florida Statutes do not define the term “broker” in this context. However, federal law defines a “broker” as “a per[945]*945son, other than a motor carrier or an employee or agent of a motor carrier, that as a principal or agent sells, offers for sale, negotiates for, or holds itself out by solicitation, advertisement, or otherwise as selling, providing, or arranging for, transportation by motor carrier for compensation.” 49 U.S.C. § 13102(2) (2009).

Moreover, the Code of Federal Regulations expands upon the definition of the term “broker”:

Broker means a person who, for compensation, arranges or offers to arrange the transportation of property by an authorized motor carrier. A motor carrier, or person who is an employee or bona fide agent of a carrier, is not a broker within the meaning of this section when it arranges or offers to arrange the transportation of shipments which it is authorized to transport and which it has accepted and legally bound itself to transport.

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125 So. 3d 942, 2013 WL 2320804, 2013 Fla. App. LEXIS 8474, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/gonzalez-v-jw-cheatham-llc-fladistctapp-2013.