Holmes v. St. Charles General Hosp.

465 So. 2d 117
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedFebruary 12, 1985
DocketCA 2362
StatusPublished
Cited by21 cases

This text of 465 So. 2d 117 (Holmes v. St. Charles General Hosp.) 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
Holmes v. St. Charles General Hosp., 465 So. 2d 117 (La. Ct. App. 1985).

Opinion

465 So.2d 117 (1985)

Gwendolyn Tatum, wife of Calvin HOLMES
v.
ST. CHARLES GENERAL HOSPITAL, et al.

No. CA 2362.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Fourth Circuit.

February 12, 1985.
Rehearing Denied March 27, 1985.

*118 Alonzo T. Stanga, III, William R. Mustian, III, Metairie, for appellant.

Rene A. Pastorek and Roselyn B. Koretzky, Windhorst, Pastorek & Gaudry, Gretna, for appellees.

Before GULOTTA, BYRNES and CIACCIO, JJ.

CIACCIO, Judge.

Plaintiff, Gwendolyn Holmes, appeals from the judgment of the district court which granted summary judgment in favor of the defendants, St. Charles General Hospital and its insurer, National Medical Enterprises. We reverse the summary judgment and remand the case for further proceedings.

At the time of this incident, September 18, 1982, Gwendolyn Holmes was employed as a phlebotomist with Pathology Laboratory. She was working at St. Charles General Hospital. At approximately 9 p.m. on this date the plaintiff had taken blood from a patient at the hospital. She stepped out of the patient's room into the hall where she slipped on a wet surface, fell and fractured her right wrist. Plaintiff thereafter sued St. Charles General Hospital, and its insurer seeking to recover damages for her personal injury caused by the alleged negligence and strict liability of the defendant.

The defendants filed an answer wherein they denied the allegations of the plaintiff's petition and raised the affirmative defense of contributory negligence. In the alternative, the defendants alleged that plaintiff was their statutory employee and her exclusive *119 remedy was for benefits under the workmen's compensation statute. R.S. 23:1032.

St. Charles General Hospital and its insurer filed a motion for summary judgment which was granted by the district court, and the plaintiff appealed.

The sole issue on appeal is whether the trial court erred in granting the defendants' motion for summary judgment.

In the recent Louisiana Supreme Court decision of Industrial Sand and Abrasives, Inc. v. Louisville and Nashville Railroad Company, et al, 427 So.2d 1152 at 1153-54 (1983), the issue of summary judgment was discussed:

The sole purpose for the motion for summary judgment is to determine in advance of trial whether a genuine issue of material fact exists between the litigants. Miller v. East Ascension Tel. Co., 263 So.2d 360 (La.App. 1st Cir.), writs denied, 262 La. 1121, 266 So.2d 430 (1972); cf. Albatross Shipping Corp. v. Stewart, 326 F.2d 208 (5th Cir.1964); see also Kay v. Carter, 243 La. 1095, 150 So.2d 27 (1963); Comment, Development of Jurisprudence in Louisiana Relative to Summary Judgment since 1960, 12 Loyola L.Rev. 128 (1965-66). The summary judgment procedure in Louisiana is set out in La.C.C.P. art. 966 et seq...
La.C.C.P. art 966 provides that any party may move for a summary judgment at any time, and the mover is entitled to summary judgment in his favor "if the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions of fact, together with the affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue as to a material fact, and that the mover is entitled to judgment as a matter of law." Sanders v. Hercules Sheet Metal, Inc., 385 So.2d 772 (La.1980); cf. Fed.Rule Civ.Pro. 56. The burden is on the mover to show clearly that there is not a genuine issue of material fact in dispute, and any reasonable doubt as to the existence of a genuine issue of material fact must be resolved against the mover and in favor of trial on the merits. Thornhill v. Black, Sivalls & Bryson, 394 So.2d 1189 (La.1981); White v. Baker Manor Nursing Home, 400 So.2d 1168 (La.App. 1st Cir.), writs denied, 403 So.2d 68 (La. 1982); cf. Erco Industries, Ltd. v. Seaboard Coast Line Railroad Co., 644 F.2d 424 (5th Cir.1981); Joplin v. Bias, 631 F.2d 1235 (5th Cir.1980).
To satisfy this burden, the mover must meet a strict standard of showing that it is quite clear as to what is the truth and that there has been excluded any real doubt as to the existence of a genuine issue of material fact. The pleadings, affidavits, and documents of the mover must be scrutinized closely, while those of the opponent to the motion are to be indulgently treated. Vermilion Corp. v. Vaughn, 397 So.2d 490 (La.1981); Mashburn v. Collin, 355 So.2d 879 (La.1977); cf. Adickes v. S.H. Kress Co., 398 U.S. 144, 90 S.Ct. 1598, 26 L.Ed.2d 142 (1970).

Our examination of the record indicates that the trial court erred in granting the motion for summary judgment filed by the defendants.

In its motion for summary judgment, St. Charles General Hospital and its insurer allege that they were the statutory employer of the plaintiff and her sole remedy for injury consists of compensation benefits. Affidavits were filed in support of the defendant's motion. One affidavit was executed by William Respee, the Director of the Laboratory Department at this hospital and an employer of Pathology Laboratory. He states that on the date of the accident the plaintiff was an employee of Pathology Laboratory and she worked at St. Charles General Hospital. He also states that plaintiff was acting in the course and scope of her employment when she fell and sustained injuries.

An additional affidavit was filed in support of the defendant's motion. This affidavit was executed by Thomas Reynolds, the Administrator of St. Charles General Hospital. He states in the affidavit "the provision of laboratory services is an essential integral and customary service essential to the functioning of St. Charles General *120 Hospital." He further states that "the provision of laboratory service is customarily performed by employees of the hospital but due to the particular circumstance ... and for business reasons the provision of laboratory services at St. Charles General Hospital are provided by and through contract with Pathology Laboratory." He also verified that the copy of the contract attached to his affidavit was the contract entered into by the Pathology Laboratory and this hospital. The contract sets forth the agreement of Pathology Laboratory to provide all the laboratory services and laboratory facilities for this hospital in return for certain specified financial remuneration.

In Mr. Reynolds' deposition, he testified that none of the employees of this hospital performed laboratory work and the hospital does not employ its own laboratory technicians. The sole laboratory technicians are those employed by Pathology Laboratories. Further, Mr. Reynolds testified that to his knowledge this hospital never employed any employees to perform laboratory work and this function was provided by Pathology Laboratories from the first day of this hospital's operation. Moreover, he stated that in order for the hospital to have the room to conduct laboratory work, it would have to close rooms and also secure the money and personnel for this operation.

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Bluebook (online)
465 So. 2d 117, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/holmes-v-st-charles-general-hosp-lactapp-1985.