Kistner v. Cupples

2010 Ark. 416, 372 S.W.3d 339, 2010 Ark. LEXIS 510
CourtSupreme Court of Arkansas
DecidedNovember 4, 2010
DocketNo. 09-1349
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 2010 Ark. 416 (Kistner v. Cupples) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Arkansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Kistner v. Cupples, 2010 Ark. 416, 372 S.W.3d 339, 2010 Ark. LEXIS 510 (Ark. 2010).

Opinion

PAUL E. DANIELSON, Justice.

liAppellants William Kistner and William Kistner, Jr., appeal the order of the Pulaski County Circuit Court granting appellee Integrated Distribution, Inc.’s motion for summary judgment. The Kistners argue on appeal that the circuit court erred in granting summary judgment in favor of Integrated Distribution. We disagree and affirm the order of the circuit court.

On March 14, 2003, Integrated, an authorized motor carrier, entered into a motor-vehicle lease and operating agreement with Lyman Hinson, president of Tuffer Enterprises, Inc., an Arkansas corporation and owner of a commercial truck. The agreement indicated that Lyman Hinson was an independent contractor who would provide equipment and drivers to Integrated to complete a job.

l;On October 19, 2003, the Kistners were traveling east on Interstate 40 in North Little Rock, Arkansas, when their vehicle was struck from behind by George Cupples, the driver who had been hired to haul trailers owned by Integrated per the agreement between Integrated and Hinson. As a result of the accident, the Kistners’ vehicle was destroyed, and the Kistners sustained multiple injuries. On September 12, 2008, the Kistners filed a complaint against Cupples, Tuffer, and Integrated, alleging that Cupples’s negligence was the proximate cause of the accident and that both Tuffer and Integrated were also responsible for that negligence as his employers.1

Integrated answered the complaint and then filed a motion for summary judgment on January 1, 2009. In its motion for summary judgment, Integrated asserted that it was not liable for the actions of Cupples because the agreement between Integrated and Hinson established an independent-contractor relationship and Cupples was not an employee of Integrated. Furthermore, Integrated argued that, at the time of the accident, Cupples was not performing any service for Integrated as he was operating the truck without a trailer attached (also known as “bobtail-ing”). The Kistners responded and filed their own summary-judgment motion.

The circuit court held a hearing on May 4, 2009, on the cross-motions for summary judgment. On May 6, 2009, the circuit court entered its order granting summary judgment |Rin favor of Integrated and denying the Kistners’ motion for summary judgment. The Kistners timely appealed, and we now turn to the merits of their argument.

The Kistners contend that the circuit court erred in granting summary judgment in favor of Integrated because federal law preempts state common-law defenses, that drivers of leased vehicles are “statutory employees” as a matter of law, and that, even under traditional notions of common law, Integrated is vicariously liable for the acts of Cupples. Integrated avers that employment status is to be determined under state law; that drivers of leased vehicles are no longer considered statutory employees; that Cupples, per the agreement and the established independent-contractor relationship, was not an employee of Integrated at the time of the accident; and that, even were a court to determine Cupples was an employee of Integrated, he was acting outside the scope of the agreement at the time of the accident.

Summary judgment may only be granted when there are no genuine issues of material fact to be litigated and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. See K.C. Props, of Nw. Ark., Inc. v. Lowell Inv. Partners, LLC, 373 Ark. 14, 280 S.W.3d 1 (2008). Once the moving party has established a prima facie entitlement to summary judgment, the opposing party must meet proof with proof and demonstrate the existence of a material issue of fact. See id. On appellate review, we determine if summary judgment was appropriate based on whether the evidentiary items presented by the moving party in support of the motion leave a material fact unanswered. See id. This court views the evidence in a light most favorable to the party against whom the motion was filed, resolving all doubts and inferences |4against the moving party. See id. Our review focuses not only on the pleadings, but also on the affidavits and other documents filed by the parties. See id.

The Kistners first argue that federal law, along with the regulatory framework of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA),2 preempts state-law concepts of respondeat superior in the instant case and controls the determination of the employment status of Cupples. The FMCSA has specific written lease requirements for a lease made between an authorized carrier and the owner of the equipment. See 49 C.F.R. § 376.12. In compliance with the requirements, the lease in the instant case provided, among other things, that “[Integrated] shall have exclusive possession, control, and use of Equipment and shall assume complete responsibility for its operation during this Agreement.” See 49 C.F.R. § 376.12(c)(1). However, as Integrated argues in its brief, the regulations were amended in 1992 to include the following clarification:

Nothing in the provisions required by paragraph (c)(1) of this section is intended to affect whether the lessor or driver provided by the lessor is an independent contractor or an employee of the authorized carrier lessee. An independent contractor relationship may exist when a carrier lessee complies with 49 U.S.C. 14102 and attendant administrative requirements.

49 C.F.R. § 376.12(c)(4).

While the Kistners ask this court to conclude that drivers of leased trucks are “statutory employees” of the authorized motor carriers-lessees, the legal authority they cite all date back R prior to the 1992 amendment. Specifically, they cite Simmons v. King, 478 F.2d 857 (5th Cir.1973) as the leading case for this analysis. However, the Simmons court specifically held that

[sjince under the lease [the carrier-lessee] assumed exclusive possession, control, and use of the vehicle and responsibility to the public then [the driver] became his statutory employee, and as such [the carrier-lessee] was vicariously liable as a matter of law for the negligence of the [driver].

478 F.2d 857, 867 (emphasis added). The Simmons court was clearly relying on the exact language that section 376.12(c)(4) now specifically instructs should not affect whether the driver provided by the lessor is an independent contractor or an employee of the authorized carrier-lessee. In light of the 1992 amendment, it seems clear that the “statutory employee” interpretation of the regulation that was used in the past is no longer a proper interpretation. See Bays v. Summitt Trucking, LLC, 691 F.Supp.2d 725 (WD.Ky.2010) (quoting Penn v. Va. Int’l Terminals, Inc., 819 F.Supp.

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Bluebook (online)
2010 Ark. 416, 372 S.W.3d 339, 2010 Ark. LEXIS 510, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/kistner-v-cupples-ark-2010.