Nichols v. Jacobsen Construction Co.

2016 UT 19, 374 P.3d 3, 811 Utah Adv. Rep. 47, 2016 WL 1719266, 2016 Utah LEXIS 40
CourtUtah Supreme Court
DecidedApril 28, 2016
DocketCase No. 20140866
StatusPublished
Cited by18 cases

This text of 2016 UT 19 (Nichols v. Jacobsen Construction Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Utah Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Nichols v. Jacobsen Construction Co., 2016 UT 19, 374 P.3d 3, 811 Utah Adv. Rep. 47, 2016 WL 1719266, 2016 Utah LEXIS 40 (Utah 2016).

Opinion

Justice DURHAM,

opinion of the Court:

INTRODUCTION

11 Rick J. Nichols worked for a subcontractor of Jacobsen Construction Company in 2011 when scaffolding came loose and fell on him, causing serious (bodily injury. Mr. Nichols alleges that Jacobsen's negligence caused these injuries and thus filed suit with the district court. Jacobsen moved for summary judgment, claiming immunity from suit under the exclusive remedy provision of the Utah Workers' Compensation Act. The district court granted Jacobsen's motion, determining that Jacobsen qualified for immunity under the "eligible employer" statute because: (1) Jacobsen "procure[d] work" that was "part or process -of [its] trade or business," (2) Jacobsen "secure[d] the payment .of *6 workers' compensation benefits" for Mr. Nichols, and (8) Jacobsen created and maintained a "written workplace accident and injury reduction program that [met] the requirements" of the statute. Urax § 34A-2-103(T)OGiN)(B).

{2 Mr. Nichols appealed to the Utah Court of Appeals, which affirmed 'on the "procuring work" requirement but reversed on the "securing the payment" requirement, concluding that the length of time that passed before Jacobsen began making workers' compensation payments had an impact on whether Jacobsen indeed secured payment of those benefits as the statute required,. The court of appeals did not address the workplace accident and injury reduction pl ogram requirements.

T3 We conclude that J; acobsen quahfies as an "eligible employer" under the workers' compensation statutes and has fulfilled all three of the above requirements, thereby qualifying for immunity from suit. , We therefore affirm the district court's grant.of summary judgment in its entirety; affirming in part and reversing in part the court of appeals' decision. .

BACKGROUND

1 4 Jacobsen Construction Company was a general contractor and construction manager for the City Creek Center commercial development project in Salt Lake City. Jacobsen required its subcontractors to participate in a "contractor-controlled insurance program" (CCIP). Under this plan, Jacobsen purchased a single insurance policy from a single insurer that covered all of Jacobsen's subcontractors. This plan included a workers' compensation policy that provided the first $250,000 of benefits for injured workers. Although subcontractors could still purchase their own workers' compensation insurance, the CCIP was “mtended to be the primary source of coverage" and would "assume primary position to Subcontractors' insurance in the covered areas of risk," , ..

15 Safway was one such subcontractor included in the CCIP. On June 9, 2009, Saf-way signed a CCIP Enrollment Form and an Insurance Calculation Form, Safway listed under the "Work Description" heading that it would "erect. and dismantle scaffolding." Safway received a certificate of liability insurance on August 27, 2010.

16 Safway signed the Insurance Calculation Form that twice references the CCIP manual, which in turn requires all participating subcontractors to "compl{y]l with the terms and conditions of the Jacobsen City Creek Center CCIP Manual and the Jacob-sen City Creek Center Safety and Health Manual."

T7 Rick J. Nichols was an employee of Safway, On April 11, 2011, Mr. Nichols was severely injured while unloading scaffolding. On the morning of his injury, Mr. Nichols and another Safway employee drove to a construction site to unload scaffolding. Saf-way had reserved a forklift for the men to use to assist with the unloading, but when the men arrived at the site there was no forklift available. A Jacobsen employee demanded that the men unload the scaffolding by hand because "the project was behind schedule." Mr, Nichols stayed on the ground while the other Safway employee climbed onto the truck's flatbed. Mr. Nichols began cutting the bands that held the individual scaffolding planks together in order to unload the planks. As Mr. Nichols was cutting through oné of the bands, several planks came crashing down on him, with the weight of the impact snapping one of the bands of Mr. Nichols' hard hat.

18 After the accident, a Safway supervisor came to the site to take Mr. Nichols to speak with one of Jacobsen's safety supervisors. The Jacobsen supervisor told the Safway supervisor to take Mr, Nichols "wherever you want" for medical assistance because "he's not our employee." Mr. Nichols then filed a workers' compensation claim, but there is a dispute 'over who initially paid the benefits. Mr. Nichols alleges he initially filed the claim with Safway’s insurance carrier, but Jacob-sen claims it has paid from "day one and dollar one." It is undisputed, however, that Jacobsen. has pald over $100,000 in benefits and continues to pay as losses accrue. -

T9 Mr. Nichols filed a negligence action against Jacobsen in the district court. Ja-cobsen argued that it was immune from tort *7 liability based on the Utah Workers' Compensation Act's exelusive-remedy provision. The parties then agreed to stay discovery while Jacobsen moved for summary judgment on the question of whether it qualified for immunity under the "eligible employer" statute. - Nee - Utax® Copp § 34A-2-The statute required Jacob-sen to establish that it had (1) "procure[d] work" that was "part or process of [its] trade or business," (2) "secure[d] the payment of workers' compensation benefits" for Mr,. Nichols, and (8) created and maintained a "written workplace accident and injury reduction program that [met] the requirements" of the statute, Id.

[ 10 The district court granted Jacobsen's motion for summary judgment, First, with respect to the "procuring work" requirement, the district court found in its order that Mr. Nichols did not provide the court with any "admissible factual or legal basis for thie] assertion ... [that] delivery of supplies on its face would seem not to qualify as procuring work that is part or process of [Jacobsen's] trade or business." Additionally, the court found that the "plain language of the statute seems to support the delivery of supplies [is] clearly in furtherance of [Jacobsen's] work." Second, with respect to "seenring the payment" of workers' compensation benefits, the court found that Jacobsen met this requirement when it enrolled Safway as a subcontractor in its insurance program. And finally, with respect to the "workplace accident and injury reduction program" requirement, the court found that Jacobsen had submitted several documents demonstrating its compliance with the statute, and that although Mr. Nichols "question[{ed] many of the facts surrounding these documents," he did not "pro-ducel ] any evidence of [Jacobsen's] failure to comply with the statutory mandates."

£11 Mr. Nichols appealed to the Utah Court of Appeals, which affirmed on the first requirement (procuring the work), but reversed on the second requirement (securing the payment), Nichols v. Jacobsen Constr. Co., 2014 UT App 201, 334 P.3d 514. The court concluded that there was a genuine dispute of fact as to whether Jacobsen secured the payment of Mr. Nichols' benefits, because the parties disputed whether Jacob-sen paid the benefits from "day one and dollar one" or whether Safway initially secured the payment. .of the benefits, and Ja-cobsen stepped in at a later date. Id. TI 11-12. The court held that Jacobsen would not qualify for immunity "if a significant time passed" before Jacobsen started paying Mr. Nichols' benefits. Id, 118.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
2016 UT 19, 374 P.3d 3, 811 Utah Adv. Rep. 47, 2016 WL 1719266, 2016 Utah LEXIS 40, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/nichols-v-jacobsen-construction-co-utah-2016.