Morgan v. ABC Manufacturer

734 So. 2d 1268, 96 La.App. 5 Cir. 59, 1999 La. App. LEXIS 1480, 1999 WL 314650
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedMay 19, 1999
DocketNo. 96-CA-59
StatusPublished

This text of 734 So. 2d 1268 (Morgan v. ABC Manufacturer) 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
Morgan v. ABC Manufacturer, 734 So. 2d 1268, 96 La.App. 5 Cir. 59, 1999 La. App. LEXIS 1480, 1999 WL 314650 (La. Ct. App. 1999).

Opinion

12DALEY, Judge.

This appeal is before this court on remand from the Louisiana Supreme Court. Plaintiff/appellant, Edward Morgan, was injured while in the course and scope of his employment as a scrap steel burner at the Harvey yard of Goldin Industries of Louisiana, Inc., on October 23, 1992. Morgan suffered severe injuries when he was struck with a piece of scrap metal that fell from a sling attached to a crane operated by Goldin personnel. Morgan sued many different parties in tort. The tort suit went to jury trial against defendant, Work-tec Industries, a company who supplied temporary workers to Goldin Industries and who employed Darryl Hines, the worker who allegedly hooked the piece of metal that fell from the sling and struck Mr. Morgan.

The jury’s interrogatories required the jury to make a finding of fact whether Hines was Goldin’s borrowed servant. The jury found that Hines was, in fact, Goldin’s borrowed servant, and ceased their deliberations at that point, as per the pinterrogatories’ instructions. They made no other findings. A verdict was entered in favor of Worktec Industries and their insurers. Morgan was cast in judgment for Worktee’s costs of defending the litigation, in the amount of $9,010.68.

Morgan appealed to this court, and this court affirmed the judgment of the trial court. Morgan v. ABC Manufacturer, 96-59 (La.App. 5 Cir. 1/15/97), 694 So.2d 394.

Morgan sought writs to the Supreme Court, who granted his application and reversed the trial court and this court, finding that “the trial court committed legal error in instructing the jury that a finding that Hines was Goldin’s borrowed employee would relieve Worktec of liability for his torts.” Morgan v. ABC Manufacturer, 97-0956 (La.5/1/98), 710 So.2d 1077, 1084. The Supreme Court remanded the case to this court for a de novo review of the record and an entry of judgment on the merits as to Morgan’s claim of negligence against Worktec.

After thorough consideration of the evidence and testimony, we find no negligence on the part of Worktec’s employee, Darryl Hines. We enter judgment in favor of Worktec and its insurers, and against plaintiff/appellant, Edward Morgan.

This accident took place in Goldin’s Harvey yard. Plaintiff, Edward Morgan, was working as a burner with several other burners, cutting pieces of scrap metal. It was his second day on the job. An employee of Goldin, Keith Templet, was lift[1270]*1270ing pieces of scrap metal with a Lima 1200 Crawler Crane, from a barge and transporting them to a rail car near where Morgan and the other burners were working. Plaintiff, Edward Morgan, was struck with a piece of metal that fell from the crane. The Worktec employee, Hines, was engaged in the process of hooking the scrap metal on to four slings with open throat hooks at the end of the crane’s boom cable. Some |4dispute exists as to whether Hines hooked the particular load that fell on Morgan, and whether two or four slings and hooks were being used that morning.

The hooking process was described in the testimony of several fact and expert witnesses, and this court reviewed an illustrative video tape entered into evidence by Worktec. Suspended from the end of the crane’s boom cable were the slings and open-throat hooks, which have no latches or closure devices. The hooker (Hines or someone else) would select the pieces of scrap metal to be hooked. These pieces varied in size, but were usually large, several feet wide, 12 to 20 feet long,54 to % inches thick. Holes had been cut in the metal near one end of the piece, for the hooks. The hook man would insert the hook into the hole in the metal. The operation was gravity controlled: if a hook was not securely in the hole, the metal would fall off the hook as the crane operator raised it slowly from the ground. The hooker was required to signal the crane operator when the hooks were secure. The metal was hooked securely if the crane operator was able to lift it off the ground without the metal falling off the hook. The crane operator then swung the load around to the railcar area, signaling all employees as he started to swing the load to warn them of the crane’s movement. Yard rules and safety regulations required that no employees be under the path of the crane’s boom as it moved.

In this particular incident, we find that Hines hooked the metal pieces to the crane via the sling and hooks, and the load was lifted by Templet, the crane operator. There was no indication that the load might have been hooked improperly because all the pieces stayed on the hooks as it was raised from the ground. Templet swung the load to the rail car. He testified that inertia caused the load to continue to move slightly and caused the load to make contact with the rail car. This contact produced slack in one of the slings, which in turn caused the open-throated hook to disengage |sfrom that piece of metal. This piece of metal fell from the hook and struck Mr. Morgan, causing his injuries.

On appeal, Morgan argues that Hines violated OSHA and ANSI standards by failing to ensure that the load was properly hooked and secured before it was lifted. They also argue that Hines lied in his testimony, and was impeached by other witnesses, when he denied being the one who hooked this load. Morgan further argues that Worktec is liable for its negligence in failing to properly screen, test, and train Hines. Plaintiff further argues that Worktec is jointly and solidarily liable with Goldin for his injuries, as this accident occurred in 1992 before the amendment of LSA-C.C. art. 2324.

We find that Hines and Worktec were not negligent.

Negligence of Worktec and/or Hines

Plaintiff argues that Darryl Hines violated OSHA and ANSI standards by failing to ensure that the load that ultimately fell on plaintiff was properly hooked and secured before it was lifted.

Initially, we note that Hines testified that he did not begin hooking loads that day until after Morgan’s accident had occurred. His testimony contradicts the recollections of the crane operator, Keith Templet, and other employees, who stated that Hines was the “hooker” that day and hooked the load that ultimately fell on Morgan. His testimony also contradicts information he gave to an investigator of this accident. We find that Hines did hook [1271]*1271the load of steel that caused plaintiffs injury. However, as discussed below, our view of the evidence shows that the load was not improperly hooked, and that the crane operator’s negligence caused the accident.

| fiMark Harding, the yard foreman, investigated the accident and interviewed the personnel who were in the yard. In his investigation, no one indicated to him that the load was improperly hooked.

The crane operator, Keith Templet, testified that he had been employed at Goldin for five years as the operator of the crawler crane. He was using a four part sling and they were moving three to four pieces of iron on the day of the accident, of varying sizes. Templet testified that Hines was hooking the loads, and Morgan, Jimmy Ellor, and three other workers were working in the yard as burners. Templet said that he relied on his hooker to tell him it was ok and then he would pick up the load. He picked it up, blew his horn to signal the workers, and swung the load toward the rail car. He did not remember swinging it fast or making any sudden braking moves. When he stopped his swing, one piece of iron went a little further and hit another piece of iron on the railcar and fell. He did not know what piece was hit.

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Related

Morgan v. ABC MANUFACTURER
710 So. 2d 1077 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 1998)
Morgan v. ABC MANUFACTURER
694 So. 2d 394 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1997)

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Bluebook (online)
734 So. 2d 1268, 96 La.App. 5 Cir. 59, 1999 La. App. LEXIS 1480, 1999 WL 314650, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/morgan-v-abc-manufacturer-lactapp-1999.