Jones v. Dudley

706 So. 2d 758, 1997 CCH OSHD 31,368, 1997 Ala. Civ. App. LEXIS 553, 1997 WL 381824
CourtCourt of Civil Appeals of Alabama
DecidedJuly 11, 1997
Docket2960341
StatusPublished

This text of 706 So. 2d 758 (Jones v. Dudley) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Civil Appeals of Alabama primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Jones v. Dudley, 706 So. 2d 758, 1997 CCH OSHD 31,368, 1997 Ala. Civ. App. LEXIS 553, 1997 WL 381824 (Ala. Ct. App. 1997).

Opinion

RICHARD L. HOLMES, Retired Appellate Judge.

Mary Jones appeals from a summary judgment entered in favor of John Robert Dudley and Joey Massingill. This case is before this court pursuant to Ala.Code 1975, § 12-2-7(6).

In January 1996 Jones filed a two-count complaint, pursuant to Ala.Code 1975, §§ 25-1-1 and 25-5-11, against Dudley Lumber Company, Inc. (employer), Dudley, and other fictitious parties. Thereafter, Jones amended the complaint to substitute Massingill as a defendant. We would note that the employer was dismissed from this case, and the case proceeded against Dudley and Massingill.

Jones is the custodian for Mary Buchanan, who is the sister of Odis W. Buchanan (employee). On or about March 1, 1995, the employee was fatally injured while working in the line and scope of his employment with the employer.

The employer is a company that manufactures lumber, and Dudley is the president of the company. Massingill, the general superintendent and Dudley’s son-in-law, oversees the operation of the entire plant, which consists of a sawmill, a planing mill, and a boiler and dry kiln complex.

[759]*759Dudley and Massingill filed a motion for a summary judgment, along with a brief and documentation in support of their motion. Jones filed a response and documentation in opposition to the summary judgment motion.

After a hearing the trial court issued an order, finding that there existed no genuine issue of a material fact and that Dudley and Massingill were entitled to a judgment as a matter of law.

On appeal Jones contends that the trial court committed reversible error when it entered a summary judgment in favor of Dudley and Massingill.

Initially, we would note that Rule 56(c), Ala. R. Civ. P., provides that a summary judgment is appropriate in situations where no genuine issue of any material fact exists and the movant is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law. It is well settled that the moving party has the burden of establishing that no genuine issue of a material fact exists and that all reasonable uncertainties regarding the existence of a genuine issue of a material fact must be resolved against the moving party. Porter v. Fisher, 636 So.2d 682 (Ala.Civ.App.1994).

Once the movant makes a prima facie showing that no genuine issue of a material fact exists, then the burden shifts to the non-moving party to present substantial evidence regarding the existence of a genuine issue of a material fact. Porter, 636 So.2d 682.

The applicable standard of review is “substantial evidence.” See Ala.Code 1975, § 12-21-12. In West v. Founders Life Assurance Co., 547 So.2d 870, 871 (Ala.1989), our supreme court stated the following: “[S]ub-stantial evidence is evidence 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.”

Ala.Code 1975, § 25-1-1(a), provides the following:

“Every employer shall furnish employment which shall be reasonably safe for the employees engaged therein and shall furnish and use safety devices and safeguards and shall adopt and use methods and processes reasonably adequate to render such employment and the places where the employment is performed reasonably safe for his employees and others who are not trespassers, and he shall do everything reasonably necessary to protect the life, health and safety of his employees and others who are not trespassers.”

In Powell v. United States Fidelity & Guaranty Co., 646 So.2d 637, 639-40 (Ala.1994), our supreme court “reaffirmed] the principle that an injured employee may maintain an action under § 25-1-1 against a co-employee for failure to maintain a safe workplace, if the failure was willful and intentional.” (Emphasis added.)

We would note that our supreme court stated the following in Bean v. Craig, 557 So.2d 1249, 1252 (Ala.1990):

“Despite the fact that Craig was aware of a risk in operating the lift, this evidence tends to prove only negligent, and not willful, conduct. The legislature, in recognizing the difference between negligent and willful actions, sought to ensure that cases of this type would not be submitted to a jury without some evidence showing either: (1) the reason why the co-employee would want to intentionally injure the plaintiff, or someone else, or (2) that a reasonable person in the position of the defendant would have known that a particular result [ (i.e., injury or death) ] was substantially certain to follow from his actions. An employee may be liable for injuries sustained by a' fellow employee only when such injury is caused by the offending employee’s willful conduct. ...
[[Image here]]
“A plaintiff suing a co-employee must show facts tending to prove that the co-employee set out purposefully, intentionally, or by design to injure someone; a showing of mere negligence is not enough. Evidence showing only a knowledge or an appreciation of a risk of injury will not entitle a plaintiff to a jury determination of whether the co-employee acted with a purpose, intent, or design to injure another. A co-employee must either have actual knowledge that an injury will occur [760]*760from his actions or have substantial certainty that injury will occur.”

(Citations omitted) (emphasis added).

Ala.Code 1975, § 25-5-11, provides thé following, in pertinent part:

“(a) If the injury 'or death for which compensation is payable under Articles 3 or 4 of this chapter was caused under circumstances also creating a legal liability for damages on the part of any party other than the employer ..., the employee, or his or her dependents in case of death, may proceed against the employer to recover compensation under this chapter ..., and at the same time, may bring an action against the other party to recover damages for the injury or death, and the amount of the damages shall be ascér-tained and determined without regard to this chapter. If a party, other than the employer, ... is an officer, director, agent, or employee of the same employer ..., the injured employee, or his or her dependents in the ease of death, may bring an action against any ... .person ... only for willful conduct which results in or proximately causes the injury or death....
[[Image here]]
“(c) As used herein, ‘willful conduct’ means any of the following:
. “(1) A purpose or intent or design to injure another; and if a person, with knowledge of the danger or peril to another, consciously pursues a course of conduct with a design, intent, and purpose of inflicting injury, then he or she is guilty of ‘willful conduct.’ ”

(Emphasis added.)

In Padgett v. Neptune Water Meter Co., 585 So.2d 900, 901 (Ala.1991), our supreme court stated, “Section 25-5-11(a) provides that actions may be maintained against those parties that may be jointly liable with the employer, provided that if the other party is a coemployee, then his actions, in order to give rise to liability, must be willful.” (Emphasis added.)

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Bean v. Craig
557 So. 2d 1249 (Supreme Court of Alabama, 1990)
Lee v. LONGHORN STEAKS OF ALABAMA, INC.
662 So. 2d 672 (Supreme Court of Alabama, 1995)
Padgett v. Neptune Water Meter Co., Inc.
585 So. 2d 900 (Supreme Court of Alabama, 1991)
Powell v. US Fidelity & Guar. Co.
646 So. 2d 637 (Supreme Court of Alabama, 1994)
Porter v. Fisher
636 So. 2d 682 (Court of Civil Appeals of Alabama, 1994)
West v. Founders Life Assur. Co. of Florida
547 So. 2d 870 (Supreme Court of Alabama, 1989)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
706 So. 2d 758, 1997 CCH OSHD 31,368, 1997 Ala. Civ. App. LEXIS 553, 1997 WL 381824, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/jones-v-dudley-alacivapp-1997.