Miller v. B. Lewis Contractors

103 So. 2d 592
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedMay 26, 1958
Docket4619
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 103 So. 2d 592 (Miller v. B. Lewis Contractors) 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
Miller v. B. Lewis Contractors, 103 So. 2d 592 (La. Ct. App. 1958).

Opinion

103 So.2d 592 (1958)

James D. MILLER
v.
B. LEWIS CONTRACTORS, INC., and Liberty Mutual Insurance Company.

No. 4619.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, First Circuit.

May 26, 1958.
Rehearing Denied June 30, 1958.

Edward K. Alexander, DeQuincy, for appellant.

King, Anderson & Swift, Lawes, Cavanaugh, Hickman & Brame, Lake Charles, for appellee.

LOTTINGER, Judge.

This is a suit for personal injuries resulting to petitioner, James D. Miller, while working on a job with his employer. The defendants are B. Lewis Contractors, Inc. and its liability insurer, Liberty Mutual Insurance Company. The Lower Court rendered a judgment in favor of defendants dismissing the action and the petitioner has appealed.

The Lower Court correctly found the facts to be as follows:

The petitioner herein, James D. Miller, was working for Baker R. Littlefield, hereinafter called "Littlefield," who was doing business under the name "Power Rig Drilling Company." Littlefield entered into a contract with Sunray Mid-Continent Oil Company to drill an oil well in the Parish of Beauregard, Louisiana. The contract was not only for the actual drilling of the well, but was also for the preparatory work, such as erection of the derrick, digging of the pits and such other work necessary in preparing the site for the drilling and completion *593 of the well. This preparatory work is commonly referred to in the oil field trade as "rigging up."

Petitioner was employed by Littlefield as a "rough neck," which term means a laborer who does the hard general work in the rigging up and drilling of the well. Line Babineaux was the "tool pusher" on the job, which means that he was the boss.

In rigging up for the drilling of the well, it was necessary for Littlefield to arrange for the services of a dragline and its crew, as he did not own a dragline nor did he have any employees who were skilled in the operation of a dragline. Arrangements were therefore made with defendant, B. Lewis Contractors, Inc., under which defendant was to supply a dragline together with its crew consisting of an operator and an oiler for the sum of Fourteen ($14) Dollars per hour for the time worked. Other than this, no contract was entered into between Littlefield and Lewis, however, similar arrangements had been made between the parties on previous jobs.

At about 9 o'clock on the morning of February 28, 1956 the tool pusher told Leonce Carrier, the operator of the dragline, to move a pipe rack from its location on one side of a derrick floor to the other side. It appears from the evidence that the pipe rack was a rather heavy piece of equipment. This operation necessitated the tying of the loose end of the dragline cable to the pipe rack, lifting it over or around a section of the derrick which was on its side and was propped up by means of "jacks." At the time, the petitioner and another employee of Littlefield were on the section of the derrick connecting the sections of the derrick together. Babineaux, who was the tool pusher, expressed the opinion to Carrier that he doubted that the dragline could move the pipe rack over the derrick, and that the dragline should be moved so as to enable it to move the rack around the end of the derrick. Carrier, however, thought that the rack could be successfully moved over the derrick, and, as he was an expert dragline operator, Babineaux agreed. In attempting to raise the rack over the derrick, the pipe rack struck one of the jacks supporting the section of the derrick on which Miller was standing, and the derrick fell to the ground. As a result of the fall, the petitioner was injured and the section of the derrick was practically demolished.

Petitioner brought this suit against defendant claiming that it was an independent contractor and therefore liable for damages caused by the negligence of its dragline operator, Carrier. Mutual Liability Insurance Company was made a defendant by virtue of its insurance contract with Lewis.

Travelers Insurance Company, the workmen's compensation insurer of Littlefield, intervened in this action claiming a refund of the unemployment compensation benefits paid petitioner as well as medical expenses, in the event a judgment should be awarded in favor of petitioner.

The defendants filed answer claiming (1) that Carrier was a borrowed servant of Littlefield, and was therefore a co-employee of petitioner, which, of course would mean that the only recovery for the injuries to petitioner would be under the workmen's compensation law; (2) that petitioner was guilty of contributory negligence which would bar his recovery from damages.

The first question to be answered is whether or not the dragline operator was the employee, pro hac vice, of Littlefield in the operations during which the accident occurred. If he was, then, under the fellow servant doctrine, the only relief of petitioner would be against Littlefield under the Employers' Liability or Workmen's Compensation Act. LSA-R.S. 23:1021 et seq. Furthermore, the claim of Travelers Insurance Company would then be denied because it was the Workmen's Compensation Insurer of Littlefield.

Paragraph 4 of petitioner's petition alleges that "* * * defendant, B. Lewis *594 Contractors, Inc., was engaged in the work as an independent sub-contractor * * * that the work which the said B. Lewis Contractors, Inc. had contracted to do for the said Baker Littlefield was to erect a derrick and put it up, and dig reserve pits and mud pits; that, in performing the said work, the said defendant, B. Lewis Contractors, Inc., employed a dragline, and a crew consisting of a dragline operator and an oiler."

These allegations, however, are not substantiated by the evidence, as was correctly found by the Lower Court. Furthermore, a determination of this issue is of fundamental importance in this suit, because to answer the first question presented above, we must first determine whether Lewis was an independent contractor.

We feel that the evidence conclusively shows that the dragline, as well as the operator and oiler, were used on this job for work incident to the rigging up process. The work done was Littlefield's work, and not Lewis' work. Littlefield's tool pusher was in complete charge of the rigging up process, and told the dragline operator what to do and when to do it. It is true that the dragline operator was not told which lever to pull at a certain time, but we must consider that the operator was a skilled laborer. We feel sure that the tool pusher did not tell his own direct employees which wrench to use to tighten a nut, or such other minute details which might be left to the discretion of the employee.

The record shows that, while the tool pusher could not discharge the dragline operator from Lewis' employment, he could cause him to be run off the job. This is shown by Babineaux's testimony to the effect that had Carrier refused to carry out his orders, he would have "run him off" the job. It appears that the dragline crew became an integral part of Littlefield's crew in the rigging up process. Although their portion of the work only involved the dragline operation, they were ordered what to do and when to do it.

The testimony reveals that the dragline and crew were hired for no specific job other than to help in the rigging up operation. They were to do whatever Babineaux told them to do. The job was that of Littlefield and not that of Lewis. Lewis was not present on the job, and he exercised no control over the dragline or crew insofar as this job was concerned. Even had he been present, he would have been subject to be told what to do and when to do it by Babineaux.

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

Related

Locker v. Wilson
536 So. 2d 441 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1988)
LeJeune v. Allstate Ins. Co.
365 So. 2d 471 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 1978)
LeJeune v. Allstate Ins. Co.
356 So. 2d 537 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1978)
LeBlanc v. Roy Young, Inc.
308 So. 2d 443 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1975)
Truitt v. B & G Crane Service, Inc.
165 So. 2d 874 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1964)
Finn v. EMPLOYERS'LIABILITY ASSURANCE CORPORATION
141 So. 2d 852 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1962)
Hebert v. Hartford Accident & Indemnity Co.
140 So. 2d 755 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1962)
McCutchen v. Fruge
132 So. 2d 917 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1961)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
103 So. 2d 592, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/miller-v-b-lewis-contractors-lactapp-1958.