May v. DCP Midstream, L.P.

2010 NMCA 87, 2010 NMCA 087, 241 P.3d 193, 148 N.M. 595
CourtNew Mexico Court of Appeals
DecidedJuly 30, 2010
Docket29,331, 29,490; 32,557
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 2010 NMCA 87 (May v. DCP Midstream, L.P.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering New Mexico Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
May v. DCP Midstream, L.P., 2010 NMCA 87, 2010 NMCA 087, 241 P.3d 193, 148 N.M. 595 (N.M. Ct. App. 2010).

Opinion

OPINION

VIGIL, Judge.

{1} Plaintiff appeals from two orders of the district court. First, the district court granted Defendants’ motion for summary judgment, concluding that Plaintiffs evidence failed to satisfy the requirements of a Delgado claim. See Delgado v. Phelps Dodge Chino, Inc., 2001-NMSC-034, ¶ 24, 131 N.M. 272, 34 P.3d 1148 (“We hold that when an employer intentionally inflicts or willfully causes a worker to suffer an injury that would otherwise be exclusively compensable under the [Workers’ Compensation] Act, that employer may not enjoy the benefits of exclusivity, and the injured worker may sue in tort.”). The district court then awarded Defendants, as prevailing parties, deposition costs in the amount of $2,800.36. Rule 1-054(D)(2)(e) NMRA. We affirm.

BACKGROUND

{2} Defendants operate the Duke Energy/DCP Linam Ranch Facility where Plaintiff was employed. One of the functions of the facility is to receive gas pipe inspection gauges (pigs) that are sent through the pipeline to clean out deposits of paraffin, sulfates, and other buildup. These pigs are typically three feet in length, twelve inches in diameter, and weigh approximately forty-five pounds. The Eddy County pipeline pig receiver at the Linam Ranch Facility was modified to accept a “smart” pig, a much longer pig which also detects pipe weaknesses, pipe thickness, and leaks. Smart pigs measure about ten feet in length and weigh approximately 800 pounds. The modifications to the receiver included the addition of a twelve-foot section of pipe (pup) to accommodate the longer pig and a four-foot barrel extension. The barrel extension was an added safety precaution in the event that the pig entered the receiver at high velocity. Smart-pigging operations ceased, and the four-foot barrel extension was removed, but the receiver otherwise was left in its modified configuration and not returned to the original configuration design to safely receive regular pigs.

{3} Plaintiff was employed as a plant operator at the Linam Ranch Facility. Plaintiff was tasked to retrieve the pig from the Eddy County receiver. Due to the modified configuration of the receiver, Plaintiff was unable to determine that the pig was lodged in the twelve-foot pup, unable to determine that there was 250 pounds of pressure behind the pig, and unable to relieve any pressure from the pup. To determine the location of the pig, Plaintiff had to place himself in front of the receiver opening. Plaintiff was standing adjacent to the open door of the receiver when the pig suddenly became dislodged and struck him at approximately ninety miles per hour. Plaintiff was struck in the forearm, head, and jaw, resulting in ■ significant injuries including a crushed hand, fractured wrist, fractured and dislocated elbow, fractured ulna, two transverse fractures of the neck, broken skull bone, and numerous lacerations to the face and body. A two-inch piece of his ulna was also found lodged in the pig that came to rest almost 300 feet from the receiver opening.

{4} Plaintiff brought suit alleging that Defendants’ conduct was willful under the standards set out in Delgado and therefore his case fell outside of the exclusivity provision in the Workers’ Compensation Act. NMSA 1978, § 52-1-9 (1973). Defendants moved for summary judgment arguing that Plaintiff failed to produce evidence sufficient to support a Delgado claim. The district court granted the motion, concluding that, although negligent, Defendants’ conduct simply did not rise to the egregious level of conduct exhibited by the employer in Delgado. Pursuant to Rule l-054(D)(2)(e), Defendants submitted a bill of costs for deposition testimony and were awarded $2,800.36. Plaintiff appeals.

DISCUSSION

{5} We review a district court order granting summary judgment de novo. Self v. United Parcel Serv., Inc., 1998-NMSC-046, ¶ 6, 126 N.M. 396, 970 P.2d 582. “Summary judgment is appropriate where there are no genuine issues of material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.” Id. When the movant makes a prima facie showing that summary judgment is appropriate, “the burden shifts to the party opposing the motion to demonstrate the existence of specific evidentiary facts that require a trial on the merits.” Morales v. Reynolds, 2004-NMCA-098, ¶ 19, 136 N.M. 280, 97 P.3d 612. This Court must view all evidence in the light most favorable to the party opposing the motion. Id. ¶ 22.

Delgado Claim

{6} Our Supreme Court in Delgado held that the exclusivity provision of the Workers’ Compensation Act does not apply when the following requirements are satisfied:

[Wjillfulness renders a worker’s injury non-accidental, and therefore outside the scope of the Act, when: (1) the worker or employer engages in an intentional act or omission, without just cause or excuse, that is reasonably expected to result in the injury suffered by the worker; (2) the worker or employer expects the intentional act or omission to result in the injury, or has utterly disregarded the consequences; and (3) the intentional act or omission proximately causes the injury.

2001-NMSC-034, ¶ 26, 131 N.M. 272, 34 P.3d 1148.

{7} In other words, for a claim to be outside of the scope of the Act a plaintiff must show “some evidence of the objective expectation of injury, the subjective state of mind of the employer, and the causal relationship between the intent and the injury.” Morales, 2004-NMCA-098, ¶ 17, 136 N.M. 280, 97 P.3d 612. To survive a pre-trial motion for summary judgment on a Delgado claim, Plaintiff “must plead or present evidence that the employer met each of the three Delgado elements through actions that exemplify a comparable degree of egregiousness as the employer in Delgado.” Morales, 2004-NMCA-098, ¶ 14, 136 N.M. 280, 97 P.3d 612. If a plaintiff cannot demonstrate conduct that approximates the egregious conduct exhibited by the employer in Delgado under the three-prong test, then summary judgment is appropriate. Morales, 2004-NMCA-098, ¶ 17, 136 N.M. 280, 97 P.3d 612.

{8} In Morales, we identified the type of situation that Delgado addresses: “a combination of deadly conditions, profit-motivated disregard for easily implemented safety measures, complete lack of worker training or preparation, and outright denial of assistance to a worker in a terrifying situation.” Morales, 2004-NMCA-098, ¶ 10, 136 N.M. 280, 97 P.3d 612. The “critical measure” is whether the employer forced the employee to perform a task in a specific dangerous circumstance in which the employer should have been clearly aware of a substantial likelihood of injury or death. Dominguez v. Perovich Props., Inc., 2005-NMCA-050, ¶ 22, 137 N.M. 401, 111 P.3d 721.

{9} The complaint alleges that, at all times between the cessation of smart pig operations on the Eddy County receiver and Plaintiffs injuries, Defendants knew that the receiver was “dangerously ill-suited for using and extracting the normal pig from the pipeline.” The complaint further asserts that the failure to reconfigure the Eddy County receiver to receive normal pigs, and the failure to properly train Plaintiff in pig retrieval on the modified receiver, constitutes an intentional act or omission, without just cause or excuse, that was reasonably expected to result in the injury he suffered.

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May v. DCP MIDSTREAM, LP
241 P.3d 193 (New Mexico Court of Appeals, 2010)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
2010 NMCA 87, 2010 NMCA 087, 241 P.3d 193, 148 N.M. 595, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/may-v-dcp-midstream-lp-nmctapp-2010.