Miller v. RB WALL OIL CO., INC.

970 So. 2d 157, 2006 Miss. App. LEXIS 922, 2006 WL 3593423
CourtCourt of Appeals of Mississippi
DecidedDecember 12, 2006
Docket2005-CA-01966-COA
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 970 So. 2d 157 (Miller v. RB WALL OIL CO., INC.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Mississippi primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Miller v. RB WALL OIL CO., INC., 970 So. 2d 157, 2006 Miss. App. LEXIS 922, 2006 WL 3593423 (Mich. Ct. App. 2006).

Opinion

970 So.2d 157 (2006)

Stephen W. MILLER, Appellant,
v.
R.B. WALL OIL COMPANY, INC., Appellee.

No. 2005-CA-01966-COA.

Court of Appeals of Mississippi.

December 12, 2006.
Rehearing Denied May 1, 2007.

David N. Gillis, Wayne E. Ferrell, Jackson, attorneys for appellant.

Roy A. Smith, Melton James Weems, Jackson, attorneys for appellee.

Before LEE, P.J., IRVING and ISHEE, JJ.

IRVING, J., for the Court.

¶ 1. This appeal arises out of a slip-and-fall claim initiated against R.B. Wall Oil Co. (Wall Oil) by Stephen Miller.[1] According to Miller, he slipped and fell at a gas station leased to Mary Jo Bueto by Wall Oil. This appeal concerns only Wall Oil's liability for Miller's injuries. After discovery, the Hinds County Circuit Court granted summary judgment on Wall Oil's behalf. Miller appeals, and asserts that the grant of summary judgment was in error. Miller also challenges the trial court's determination that he is not entitled to an award of punitive damages, and claims that he is entitled to reasonable expenses for his appeal.

¶ 2. Finding no error, we affirm.

FACTS

¶ 3. On January 12, 1995, while fueling his truck, Miller slipped and fell in oil on the ground at the Bogue Chitto Truck Stop. The oil was on the ground prior to Miller's arrival at the truck stop. Miller allegedly fell in the oil as he went to shut off the fuel being pumped into the other *159 side of his truck. Miller claims that the automatic shut-off feature of the pump fueling the other side of his truck was inoperative, and he fell as he went to manually shut off the pump.

¶ 4. Donnie McWilliams was at the truck stop fueling his own truck at the time of Miller's fall. After McWilliams saw Miller slip, he went to help Miller up. At that time, both men went inside and Miller informed an employee of the truck stop that he had fallen in some oil. According to Miller, the employee told him that they were aware of a problem with the non-functioning automatic shut-off, and that someone had already been called to deal with the problem.

¶ 5. McWilliams testified at his deposition that he had had a problem with a malfunctioning automatic shut-off pump about a week before Miller's accident. McWilliams testified that he had informed the truck stop about the problem. Although he initially testified that he was not sure whether the pump he had used was the same pump that Miller was using on the day of the accident, he later recalled that the pump that had malfunctioned during his use was missing the handle-lock that allows a customer to pump gas without holding the pump. By contrast, the pump that allegedly overflowed at the time of Miller's accident had a functioning handle-lock, because McWilliams agreed that Miller was not at the pump at the time of the alleged malfunction of the automatic shut-off. Therefore, the pump that malfunctioned on McWilliams roughly a week prior to Miller's accident was not the same pump that allegedly malfunctioned at the time of Miller's accident.

¶ 6. According to Bueto's deposition, the pumps at the gas station were inspected every four hours by the fuel station attendant. The inspections began at six in the morning. Bueto testified that, although she could not remember the time of the accident, she was certain that the accident had not occurred at night. Bueto testified that these inspections specifically included looking for spills and other dangerous conditions. Bueto indicated that she had no knowledge of any problem with the shut-off feature of any of the pumps in the time leading up to Miller's accident. As she noted, she had "to pay for all the fuel that comes out of the pump. If it's on the ground, I got to pay for it. I mean, you know, I don't want it spilled." Bueto also testified that she examined the pump that Miller had been using after Miller's accident, and could find nothing wrong with it. The truck stop continued to use the allegedly malfunctioning pump without any complaints by other customers. Bueto indicated that, to the best of her recollection, Miller told her that he had slipped and had fallen in some oil as he ran to shut off the pump he was using, which was overrunning onto the ground. Bueto testified that she went outside to look around after Miller's fall and observed "some fuel spilled out on the concrete." She qualified, however, that the spill "wasn't very wide."

¶ 7. Jason Miller (no relation to Stephen Miller), the employee that Miller spoke to immediately after his fall, testified in his deposition that he remembered Miller coming in to say that he had fallen, but Jason could remember little else about their exchange. Jason testified that he did not remember what he had said back to Miller after Miller told him that he had fallen. Jason indicated that Miller had simply told him that Miller had fallen. Jason testified that he did not recall Miller saying anything about falling in oil or about a malfunctioning pump. Jason testified that he went outside after Miller left the truck stop, but could not find any significant oil spills, although he saw "little *160 spots" of oil. Jason also testified that he had received no other complaints of oil on the ground prior to Miller's accident.

ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION OF THE ISSUES

¶ 8. When reviewing a trial court's grant or denial of a motion for summary judgment, our standard of review is de novo. Webb v. Braswell, 930 So.2d 387, 395(¶ 12) (Miss.2006). The party moving for summary judgment bears the burden of showing that no genuine issue of material fact exists, while "the non-moving party is given the benefit of the doubt as to the existence of a material fact." Id. (citing McCullough v. Cook, 679 So.2d 627, 630 (Miss.1996)). When reviewing the record, we will "view the evidence in the light most favorable to the party opposing the [summary judgment] motion." Id. (citing Stallworth v. Sanford, 921 So.2d 340, 341-42(¶ 5) (Miss.2006)). If there is no genuine issue of material fact as to any element of a claim, summary judgment is proper. Id.; see also Cothern v. Vickers, Inc., 759 So.2d 1241, 1245(¶ 6) (Miss.2000).

1. Agency

¶ 9. Miller claims that the evidence introduced at trial shows a genuine issue regarding whether Bueto acted as Wall Oil's agent in the operation of her truck stop. Wall Oil claims that it did not exercise sufficient control over Bueto to make her its agent.

¶ 10. In 1931, the Mississippi Supreme Court expounded a non-exclusive list of factors that are to be used in determining whether an agency relationship exists:

Whether the principal master has the power to terminate the contract at will; whether he has the power to fix the price in payment for the work, or vitally controls the manner and time of payment; whether he furnishes the means and appliances for the work; whether he has control of the premises; whether he furnishes the materials upon which the work is done and receives the output thereof, the contractor dealing with no other person in respect to the output; whether he has the right to prescribe and furnish the details of the kind and character of work to be done; whether he has the right to supervise and inspect the work during the course of the employment; whether he has the right to direct the details of the manner in which the work is to be done; whether he has the right to employ and discharge the subemployees and to fix their compensation; and whether he is obliged to pay the wages of said employees.

Kisner v. Jackson, 159 Miss. 424, 428-29, 132 So.

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Related

Miller v. RB Wall Oil Co., Inc.
970 So. 2d 127 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 2007)

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970 So. 2d 157, 2006 Miss. App. LEXIS 922, 2006 WL 3593423, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/miller-v-rb-wall-oil-co-inc-missctapp-2006.