Montgomery v. Timberbrook Homeowners Ass'n

2006 OK CIV APP 62, 136 P.3d 727, 2006 Okla. Civ. App. LEXIS 37, 2006 WL 1641022
CourtCourt of Civil Appeals of Oklahoma
DecidedApril 28, 2006
DocketNo. 101,763
StatusPublished

This text of 2006 OK CIV APP 62 (Montgomery v. Timberbrook Homeowners Ass'n) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Civil Appeals of Oklahoma primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Montgomery v. Timberbrook Homeowners Ass'n, 2006 OK CIV APP 62, 136 P.3d 727, 2006 Okla. Civ. App. LEXIS 37, 2006 WL 1641022 (Okla. Ct. App. 2006).

Opinions

Opinion by

KENNETH L. BUETTNER, Chief Judge.

¶ 1 Marey Montgomery was a lifeguard employed by Swim Management and Consulting Services, Inc., which had contracted with Timberbrook Homeowners Association to run all facets of its common area pool. She was injured during this employment. Swim Management covered her injury through its workers’ compensation insurance. She then sued Timberbrook Homeowners Association for negligent maintenance of the lifeguard chair. Timberbrook filed a motion for summary judgment claiming it was a “principal employer,” hence immune from liability pursuant to the Workers’ Compensation Act. The trial court granted summary judgment in favor of Timberbrook. We affirm.

¶ 2 The facts in this case are undisputed. Montgomery was an employee of Swim Management. Swim Management and Timber-brook entered a contract May 24, 2000 in which they agreed that Swim Management would operate and manage the swimming pool located in the common area of Timber-brook. Montgomery’s Worker’s Compensation Court Form 3, filed March 8, 2001, states that the accident occurred July 5, 2000 when the lifeguard chair snapped off at the base, spilling her to the concrete. She claimed to have injured her back, neck, head and left hand.

¶ 3 Swim Management did not contest the workers’ compensation claim. Montgomery and her father, Robert Montgomery, sued Timberbrook July 2, 2002 for negligent maintenance of the premises. Timberbrook then filed an unopposed motion to add third-party defendant Swim Management October 11, 2002 which was granted October 15, 2002.1 Robert Montgomery dismissed his cause without prejudice November 13, 2002.

¶4 “Although a trial court in making a decision on whether summary judgment is appropriate considers factual matters, the ultimate decision turns on purely legal determinations, i.e. whether one party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law because there are no material disputed factual questions. Therefore, as the decision involves purely legal determinations, the appellate standard of review of a trial court’s grant of summary judgment is de novo." Carmichael v. Better, 1996 OK 48, ¶ 2, 914 P.2d 1051, 1053. “We will not reverse a grant of summary judgment where the record on appeal establishes no substantial controversy of material fact and the prevailing party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.” Hatcher v. Super [729]*729C Mart, 2001 OK CIV APP 59, ¶2, 24 P.3d 377, 378.

¶ 5 Timberbrook moved for summary judgment on the ground that it was Swim Management’s principal employer and thus enjoyed statutory immunity from common law liability provided pursuant to the Workers’ Compensation Act. Title 85 O.S.2001 § 11(B)(1) provides that an independent contractor and the principal employer are liable for compensation due direct employees.2 Section 12 states that the liability prescribed in Section 11 “shall be exclusive and in place of all other liability of the employer and any of his employees, ...”

¶ 6 Timberbrook manages and maintains the common areas of the residential development, including the pool. Timberbrook contracted with Swim Management to manage and staff the swimming pool. Montgomery was an employee of Swim Management, and was injured while serving as a lifeguard at the pool. She received workers’ compensation benefits for this injury. The question on summary judgment was whether Timber-brook, as a matter of law, was a principal employer and thus, immune from liability.

¶ 7 Timberbrook’s first exhibit was an affidavit from Leo Hall stating that he was the homeowner association’s president in July 2000 and that Timberbrook managed and maintained the common areas of the addition, which included a swimming pool. He stated that the management and maintenance of the swimming pool was one aspect of the day-today activities of Timberbrook. In May 2000, Timberbrook contracted with Swim Management to maintain and operate the pool. The Contract recites that Swim Management is in the business of management and maintenance of public swimming pool facilities and grounds, and Timberbrook is the owner of a public swimming pool facility. Timberbrook desired to hire Swim Management to manage and maintain the pool upon certain terms and conditions, including staffing a manager with certifications required by code to manage the day-to-day operations of the pool, subject to the general policies of the Timberbrook pool committee. There were twenty-one specific terms and conditions for Swim Management to follow. Swim Management “... will hire and dismiss employees to assist in the pool operation within its discretion. SMI [Swim Management] will contract various businesses and service companies to provide necessary services on equipment and repairs if those services are needed at Timberbrook’s expense.” Timberbrook also submitted Montgomery’s Workers’ Compensation Form 3 and Swim Management’s Form 10, admitting the injury and that it had commenced payment of temporary total disability payments. Timberbrook submitted its Certificate and Articles of Incorporation. Article X, “Committees” included the Pool Facility Committee “which shall have the responsibility of managing the pool. This shall entail preparing the budget to be submitted to the Board of Directors for approval, establishing pool rules and seasons, and hiring the necessary personnel to see that the pool functions properly. Maintenance contracts or hired maintenance personnel, as well as operational personnel, shall be handled by the Pool Committee.”

¶ 8 Besides 85 O.S.2001 §§ 11, 12, Timber-brook also cites Murphy v. Chickasha Mobile Homes, Inc., 1980 OK 75, 611 P.2d 243, to support its position that the facts lead to the conclusion that it is a principal employer and thus, immune from liability.

¶ 9 Montgomery relied on the Contract and the Form 10, and the Workers’ Compensation Act. However, she argues the tests the Supreme Court adopted after Murphy as articulated in Bradley v. Clark, 1990 OK 73, 804 P.2d 425, lead to the conclusion that Timberbrook is not a principal employer.

¶ 10 In Murphy v. Chickasha Mobile Homes, Inc., 1980 OK 75, 611 P.2d 243, Apollo Building Systems was an independent contractor of Chickasha Mobile Homes. Apollo was building an addition to the plant’s premises when one of its workers, Jesse [730]*730Murphy, was killed. His administrator brought an action for wrongful death against Chiekasha Mobile Homes. The trial court sustained Defendant’s Motion to Dismiss ruling that as a statutory employer, Chiekasha Mobile Homes was immune from liability pursuant to the Workers’ Compensation Act. The Murphy court stated at ¶ 2, p. 244:

A principal employer, within the meaning of the compensation law, must be defined in terms of the task for the performance of which he hired the independent contractor. Proper application of the test requires a two-step consideration: [1] the task being performed by the worker, when injured, must be necessary and integral part of hirer’s day-to-day business operations or [2] one that is within the range of activities customarily carried out by one in the hirer’s line of business.

¶ 11 The Murphy court clarified the “necessary and integral” test stating the hirer’s operations “[1] are directly associated with the day-to-day activity carried on by the hirer’s line of trade, industry or business or [2] would customarily be done in that line of business.

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Related

Murphy v. Chickasha Mobile Homes, Inc.
1980 OK 75 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1980)
Carmichael v. Beller
1996 OK 48 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1996)
Bradley v. Clark
1990 OK 73 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1990)
Lewis v. Exxon Corp.
441 So. 2d 192 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 1983)
Hatcher v. Super C Mart
2001 OK CIV APP 59 (Court of Civil Appeals of Oklahoma, 2001)
Clayco Construction v. Beserra
1998 OK CIV APP 72 (Court of Civil Appeals of Oklahoma, 1998)

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Bluebook (online)
2006 OK CIV APP 62, 136 P.3d 727, 2006 Okla. Civ. App. LEXIS 37, 2006 WL 1641022, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/montgomery-v-timberbrook-homeowners-assn-oklacivapp-2006.