Hill v. West American Ins. Co.

635 So. 2d 1165, 1994 WL 65631
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedMarch 2, 1994
Docket93-915, 93-932
StatusPublished
Cited by12 cases

This text of 635 So. 2d 1165 (Hill v. West American 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
Hill v. West American Ins. Co., 635 So. 2d 1165, 1994 WL 65631 (La. Ct. App. 1994).

Opinion

635 So.2d 1165 (1994)

Christine HILL, Plaintiff—Appellee,
v.
WEST AMERICAN INSURANCE COMPANY, Defendant—Appellant.
Michael HILL, Plaintiff—Appellee,
v.
WEST AMERICAN INSURANCE COMPANY, Defendant—Appellant.

Nos. 93-915, 93-932.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Third Circuit.

March 2, 1994.
Rehearing Denied May 19, 1994.

*1167 Jerold Edward Knoll, Marksville, George Arthur Flournoy, Alexandria, for Christine Hill.

James A. Bolen Jr., Alexandria, for West American Ins. Co.

Mark Alan Watson, Alexandria, for B & B Const. etc.

Before WOODARD and DECUIR, JJ., and BERTRAND[*], J. Pro Tem.

WOODARD, Judge.

Appellant, West American Insurance Company, appeals from the trial court's ruling that appellee, Christine Hill, was not in the course and scope of her employment at the time of this automobile accident and, thus, was covered under its liability policy.

FACTS

B.B. Construction contracted with the State of Louisiana to maintain a remote stretch of U.S. Interstate 49. B.B. Construction furnished its employees two trucks for transportation to and from the job site which was over forty miles from B.B. Construction's headquarters. Usually the grass cutting crew of B.B. Construction Company did not work on Saturdays, but several work days preceding Saturday, November 16, 1991, were rain outs, and James Hill, the supervisor, decided to work the crew that day. Some of the regular workers did not show up so Mr. Hill asked Katina Brouillette, who was married to his grandson, Brian, and Brady Brouillette, another grandson, to help with the trash pick up that day. Mr. Hill and his crew, consisting of Michael Hill, Brian Brouillette, Katina Brouillette, Christine Hill and Brady Brouillette, arrived at the work site along I-49 in Evangeline Parish at approximately 9:00 A.M.

Two hours later, Katina Brouillette became hungry and asked plaintiff, Christine Hill, to accompany her to a store to obtain something to eat. Ms. Hill agreed even though she was not hungry. Due to the remote location of the job site, the employees used the company's vehicles for transportation. Only one of the two vehicles was allowed away from the job site at a time so it was customary for the employee leaving to check with the other employees to determine if anyone else wanted some food. Michael Hill requested Ms. Hill bring him back some food so he could continue to work during the interim.

The foreman, James Hill, had the responsibility of getting the employees from B.B. Construction's office to the work site and back each day. He kept records of how long the crew took for lunch and the hours they worked each day. He also decided when the crew would stop and take their lunch hour. Mr. Hill did not record anything about Katina Brouillette leaving on the date of the accident because he was not aware she had left.

Katina Brouillette, along with Christine Hill and Brady Brouillette, took B.B.'s small pick up truck, a 1985 Dodge Ram, to go to the store. The store was located off the Ville Platte exit, approximately three to four miles from where they were working at the time. After exiting I-49, Katina reached for her purse, veered off the roadway and lost control of the vehicle. The truck flipped over twice. Brady Brouillette sustained relatively minor injuries. Christine Hill was severely injured. She now has a plate in her left arm and two rods in her back.

Christine Hill and Michael Hill filed separate tort suits as a result of this accident. Among the defendants named were Katina Brouillette, the driver of the vehicle, and West American Insurance Company, the liability insurer of Katina's employer, B.B. Construction Company. They also filed a worker's compensation claim against B.B. Construction and its worker's compensation insurer, Traveler's Insurance Company.

*1168 Katina Brouillette and West American Insurance Company answered Ms. Hill's tort suit. Katina Brouillette was later killed in an altercation, therefore, only West American answered Mr. Hill's separate suit for consortium. West American asserted it was immune from plaintiffs' tort action claiming plaintiffs were limited to the exclusive remedy of workers' compensation benefits because this action occurred in the course and scope of Ms. Hill's employment. It further alleged it provided no coverage for this accident because its policy excludes coverage for accidents occurring in the course and scope of plaintiff's employment.

West American moved for summary judgment asking the trial court to find it was not liable to plaintiff because of the employer's tort immunity. Plaintiffs likewise moved for summary judgment, asking the court to find there was no tort immunity for the employer in this case and therefore, the employer's liability insurer provided coverage.

On May 5, 1993, there was a hearing on both motions. The trial court denied West American's motion for summary judgment and granted plaintiffs' motion for summary judgment. The trial court found Ms. Hill was not in the course and scope of her employment at the time of the accident. It further found Ms. Brouillette was insured under the liability policy issued by West American when the accident occurred and that the accident was caused solely by the negligence and fault of Katina Brouillette. The remainder of this tort suit was heard by a jury trial on October 13, 1993. The subject of this appeal by West American is the trial court's granting of summary judgment in favor of plaintiffs, declaring Ms. Hill was not within the course and scope of her employment with B.B. Construction Company at the time of the accident.

LAW

La.Code Civ.P. art. 966 discusses summary judgment and provides in pertinent part:

B. The motion for summary judgment shall be served at least ten days before the time specified for the hearing. The adverse party may serve opposing affidavits prior to the date of the hearing. The judgment sought shall be rendered forthwith if the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue as to material fact, and that mover is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.

The burden of proof for a motion for summary judgment is as follows: The mover must show that (1) there is no genuine issue of material fact, and (2) the mover is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Sonnier v. Bayou Boudin & Cracklins, 597 So.2d 1245 (La.App. 3 Cir.1992). The court in Sonnier, supra, held that the issue of whether an employee is in the course and scope of employment is a question of fact to be determined by the trier of fact at the trial on the merits. It further held that this question of fact precluded the granting of a summary judgment. The court found in Sonnier, supra, that there were numerous unresolved factual questions and that the record was so incomplete and inconclusive, it prohibited the granting of a motion for summary judgment. The court in Sonnier, supra, had only excerpts of depositions before it. However, this case is distinguishable from Sonnier, supra, because in the instant case we have entire depositions of all those involved in this accident and, thus, have a complete record from which to decide the pertinent issues. Although there are minor factual discrepancies in the deposition testimony, there are no genuine issues of material fact. Therefore, the inquiry is whether movers are entitled to judgment as a matter of law.

The key issue to be decided by this court is whether Ms.

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Bluebook (online)
635 So. 2d 1165, 1994 WL 65631, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hill-v-west-american-ins-co-lactapp-1994.