Prejean v. Maintenance Enterprises, Inc.

4 So. 3d 127, 2008 La.App. 4 Cir. 0773, 2009 La. App. LEXIS 90, 2009 WL 103897
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedJanuary 14, 2009
DocketNo. 2008-CA-0773
StatusPublished

This text of 4 So. 3d 127 (Prejean v. Maintenance Enterprises, Inc.) 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
Prejean v. Maintenance Enterprises, Inc., 4 So. 3d 127, 2008 La.App. 4 Cir. 0773, 2009 La. App. LEXIS 90, 2009 WL 103897 (La. Ct. App. 2009).

Opinion

MAX N. TOBIAS, JR., Judge.

_jjThe plaintiff/appellant, Max Prejean (“Prejean”), appeals from a summary judgment rendered in favor of the defendant/appellee, Plant Performance Services LLC (“P2S”). For the reasons that follow, we find that the trial court erroneously granted summary judgment. Therefore, we reverse and set aside the judgment and remand the matter to the trial court for further proceedings.

[128]*128On 25 August 2004, while working on a heat exchanger at the Murphy Oil U.S.A., Inc. (“Murphy”) refinery in Mereax, Louisiana, Prejean was hit in the eye with a wrench when a metal plug blew out of that exchanger, causing permanent, life-altering injuries. At the time of the accident, Prejean was an employee of Maintenance Enterprises, Inc. (“MEI”), a company hired by Murphy to complete one of the final steps of restarting that part of the refinery, known as the ROSE unit, which had been damaged by fire in 2003.

In conjunction with the subsequent renovation of the unit, Murphy assessed the condition of the damaged equipment to determine whether such could be repaired and returned to service. P2S participated in the assessment. On 19 |2January 2004, P2S performed a hydrostatic test on the unit’s Exchanger 108D (“the exchanger”). The test entailed filling the exchanger with water and pressurizing it. P2S contends that it tested the exchange in accordance with Murphy’s specifications.

On 25 August 2004, while working in the ROSE unit, Prejean and his crew discovered a leak at one of the plugs on the north side of the exchanger. Prejean was instructed by his supervisor to tighten that plug at the rear of the exchanger in order to stop the leak.

After other employees removed the insulation from the exchanger, Prejean got on a ladder and started tightening the plug as instructed by his MEI supervisor, Ricardo Salinas. It was a plug that Prejean and his co-workers said was painted, indicating that the heat exchanger was “refurbished” or ready to use as new, as certified by P2S. On the day of the accident, MEI was not repairing the heat exchanger for use again. It was hydrotesting the exchanger that it believed was ready to go into service, based on the test performed in January 2004 by P2S and test results approved by both P2S and Murphy.

Using an 18-inch wrench, Prejean made an approximate quarter clockwise turn of the plug, but more water leaked out. While turning the plug clockwise again, the plug suddenly blew out of the exchanger nozzle, throwing the wrench into his face and causing him to fall to the floor. Prejean timely filed the present action.

|sOn 17 December 2007, P2S filed a motion for summary judgment, alleging that it did not breach its duty to Prejean. It argued that it was only supposed to test the exchanger to some intermediate level to see if the exchanger was salvageable. Alternatively, P2S argued that if it did breach its duty, it was afforded immunity under La. R.S. 9:2771.

On 18 February 2008, the trial court heard the motion for summary judgment, and on 24 March 2008, rendered summary judgment in favor of P2S. In its reasons for judgment, the court believed that Murphy’s contract with P2S did not require P2S to leave the exchanger in a refurbished condition, or ready to be placed back in service. Therefore, the trial court found that P2S was entitled to liability immunity under La. R.S. 9:2771. This timely appeal by Prejean followed.

Under the most recent amendments to La. C.C.P. art. 966, this court reviews .summary judgments de novo, considering the same standards applied by the trial court in deciding a motion for summary judgment. Planche v. Bell, 98-2987, 99-0707, p. 3 (La.App. 4 Cir. 5/3/00), 762 So.2d 130, 133. Generally, a motion for summary judgment may only be granted “[ajfter adequate discovery or after a case is set for trial.” La. C.C.P. art. 966 C(l). La. C.C.P. art. 966 B requires the party seeking summary judgment, who has the burden of proof, to show two things: (1) that “no genuine issues as to material fact” [129]*129exist, and (2) that he “is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.” In order to meet his burden of proof, the mover is not required “to negate all essential elements of the adverse party’s claim, action, or defense, but rather to point out to the court that there is an absence of factual Usupport for one or more elements essential to the adverse party’s claim, action, or defense.” La. C.C.P. art. 966 C(2). If the movant meets its burden of proving these two issues, the burden shifts to the party opposing the motion to “produce factual support sufficient to establish that he will be able to satisfy his evidentiary burden of proof at trial.” Id.

La. R.S. 9:2771 provides as follows:

No contractor, including but not limited to a residential building contractor as defined in R.S. 37:2150.1(9), shall be liable for destruction or deterioration of or defects in any work constructed, or under construction, by him if he constructed, or is constructing, the work according to plans or specifications furnished to him which he did not make or cause to be made and if the destruction, deterioration, or defect was due to any fault or insufficiency of the plans or specifications. This provision shall apply regardless of whether the destruction, deterioration, or defect occurs or becomes evident prior to or after delivery of the work to the owner or prior to or after acceptance of the work by the owner. The provisions of this Section shall not be subject to waiver by the contractor.

In Tristar Construction Co. v. Housing Authority of New Orleans, 01-2282 (La. App. 4 Cir. 12/11/02), 833 So.2d 556, we affirmed the trial court’s grant of summary judgment, finding that the contractor in question was not entitled to immunity under La. R.S. 9:2771. On appeal, the plaintiff argued that it had presented countervailing affidavits to those filed by the defendant in conjunction with its motion for summary judgment. We stated:

The affidavits presented to the court are well founded and documented by the record thereby supporting the defendants’ motion for summary judgment. Clearly, the trial court was presented with countervailing affidavits which in its judgment favored the defendants’ position resulting in its ruling in the defendants’ favor. Plaintiff failed to produce factual |5support sufficient to establish that it would be able to satisfy its evi-dentiary burden of proof at trial. Hence, Plaintiffs countervailing expert affidavits did not create a genuine issue of fact for trial. After carefully reviewing the record we concur with the trial court in this matter. There is no merit to plaintiffs argument.

Id. at p. 4, 833 So.2d at 559.

The plaintiffs next argument was that the contract in question was ambiguous. We disagreed:

Plaintiffs reasoning for claiming statutory immunity is misguided. Despite plaintiffs complaint that the construction contract documents and specifications were unclear and ambiguous, the trial court made a factual determination and correctly held that the contract at issue was a performance specifications contract which contained provisions standard to a re-roofing contract.

Id. at p. 5, 833 So.2d at 559. Consequently, we affirmed the judgment of the trial court granting summary judgment.

The plaintiff filed a writ of certiorari and/or review with the Louisiana Supreme Court.

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Bluebook (online)
4 So. 3d 127, 2008 La.App. 4 Cir. 0773, 2009 La. App. LEXIS 90, 2009 WL 103897, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/prejean-v-maintenance-enterprises-inc-lactapp-2009.