Reed v. Malone's Mechanical, Inc.

854 F. Supp. 2d 636, 2012 WL 590020, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 21796
CourtDistrict Court, W.D. Arkansas
DecidedFebruary 22, 2012
DocketCase No. 2:11-CV-02135 PKH
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 854 F. Supp. 2d 636 (Reed v. Malone's Mechanical, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, W.D. Arkansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Reed v. Malone's Mechanical, Inc., 854 F. Supp. 2d 636, 2012 WL 590020, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 21796 (W.D. Ark. 2012).

Opinion

OPINION AND ORDER

P.K. HOLMES, III, Chief Judge.

Currently before the Court are the Third Party Defendant’s Motion to Dismiss (Doc. 8), Amended Motion to Dismiss [638]*638(Doc. 9) and brief in support (Doc. 10) as well as the Third Party Plaintiffs’ Response to the Amended Motion to Dismiss (Doc. 13), and brief in support (Doc. 14). The Third Party Defendant moves to dismiss the Third Party Complaint (Doc. 6) for failure to state a claim upon which relief may be granted. Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(6). For the reasons stated below, the Amended Motion to Dismiss (Doc. 9) is DENIED.

I. Background

Plaintiff Michael Reed (“Reed”) filed a Complaint (Doc. 1) against Defendants Malone’s Mechanical, Inc. and Michael Jacobs (collectively “Malone’s”) arising out of an accident that occurred at the Simmons Foods, Inc. (“Simmons”) plant on June 4, 2006. Reed was an employee of FMC Food Tech (“FMC”) working at the Simmons plant pursuant to a contract between FMC and Simmons. At the same time, Michael Jacobs, an employee of Malone’s Mechanical, Inc., was also working at the Simmons job site performing overhead duct work. The Complaint alleges that Malone’s was negligent in failing to properly secure piping saddles and in failing to warn of its intentions to perform overhead work above the area where Reed was working. Reed alleges that he was injured when a piping saddle fell approximately ten feet and struck him in the head. The Complaint was filed in this case on July 22, 2011, after having been dismissed without prejudice in a previous action. Reed v. Malone’s Mechanical, Inc. (“Reed I”), No. 09-CV-02061 at Doc. 81 (W.D.Ark.2010).

Malone’s properly filed a Third Party Complaint (Doc. 6) against the Third Party Defendant, Gilbert Project Service, Inc., (“Gilbert”) within 14 days of having filed its Answer to the Complaint. Fed. R.Civ.P. 14(a)(1). Malone’s alleges that Gilbert was the project manager and supervisor of the construction activity at the Simmons plant at the time Reed was injured, and was negligent in failing to make provisions for accident prevention or for the protection of employees on the job site. Malone’s claims they are entitled to judgment over and against Gilbert for contribution, and are entitled to an apportionment of fault between the parties under Ark.Code Ann. § 16-55-201. Gilbert filed an Answer to the Third Party Complaint and incorporated Motion to Dismiss (Doc. 8) raising the defense of statute of limitations and moving to dismiss the Third Party Complaint for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted. Gilbert then filed an Amended Motion to Dismiss (Doc. 9) as a separate motion in compliance with Local Rule 7.2(e) likewise seeking dismissal of the Third Party Complaint for failure to state a claim.

The issues raised in the Amended Motion to Dismiss were dealt with in two motions in the previous case between the parties, Reed I. First, Malone’s attempted to bring a Third Party Complaint against Gilbert on the same legal theory as in this case, but the district court denied Malone’s Motion for leave to file the Third Party Complaint. Reed I, No. 09-CV-02061 at Doc. 37. The district court found that Malone’s claims against Gilbert were barred by the statute of limitations. The court reasoned that Malone’s liability in the ease was several with the effect being that Malone’s could assert no viable claim against Gilbert for contribution. Second, Malone’s attempted to make Gilbert a party in Reed I by seeking joinder under Fed.R.Civ.P. 19 and 20. The district court denied the Motion for Joinder, finding that Gilbert was not an indispensable party to the litigation. Id. at Doc. 57.

Gilbert asserts that the issues in this case have, thus, been decided and that the doctrine of the law of the case effectively [639]*639precludes the Court from reviewing those previous orders. “Law of the case is a doctrine of discretion which provides that when a court decides upon a rule of law, that decision should continue to govern the same issues in subsequent stages in the same case.” Harbor Ins. Co. v. Essman, 918 F.2d 734, 738 (8th Cir.1990) (internal quotations omitted) (emphasis in original). Because the instant case is not the same case as Reed I, the law of the case doctrine does not apply. Id. Furthermore, even if the doctrine did apply, it would not foreclose the court from correcting its errors. Id.

II. Discussion

Malone’s filed its Third Party Complaint in this action pursuant to Rules 8(e), 14,19 and 20 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, and pursuant to Ark.Code Ann. § 16-111-101, et seq. Since the Third Party Complaint was filed within 14 days of serving its Answer to the Complaint, Malone’s did not have to seek leave of court to file the Third Party Complaint. Fed.R.Civ.P. 14(a)(1). This action, therefore, differs from Reed I in that Gilbert was properly made a party in this case under the federal rules of third party practice. The remaining material facts and law, however, remain the same. As in the previous litigation, all claims of negligence against Gilbert arising out of the accident are barred by the statute of limitations,1 and under Arkansas law there is only several liability among joint tortfeasors in personal injury actions.

While it would first appear, as the court reasoned in Reed I, that the foregoing facts and law would preclude further analysis and result in granting the Amended Motion to Dismiss, the Court believes there is a question as to whether Malone’s has a valid third party claim against Gilbert for contribution under the Uniform Contribution Among Tortfeasor’s Act (“the UCATA”), Ark.Code Ann. § 16-61-202 et seq.. If there does exist a right of contribution, notwithstanding the abolition of joint liability in personal injury actions, the Court must next inquire whether there is, then, an available mechanism as contemplated by the Arkansas legislature under the Civil Justice Reform Act (“the CJRA”), Ark.Code Ann. § 16-55-201, for the allocation of fault among the parties in this case. Finally, if the Court finds that allocation of fault among all parties is appropriate, the Court must determine if such allocation can be reconciled with the provisions of Arkansas’ comparative fault statute, Ark.Code Ann. § 16-64-122, such that, to the extent comparative fault is or may be at issue in this case,2 Reed’s fault is not impermissibly compared with Gilbert’s fault in this case.

“[I]n construing any statute, the court should place it beside other statutes relevant to the subject and give it a meaning and effect derived from the combined whole.” Boone County Brd. of Educ. v. Taylor, 185 Ark. 869, 872, 50 S.W.2d 241 (Ark.1932).

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
854 F. Supp. 2d 636, 2012 WL 590020, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 21796, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/reed-v-malones-mechanical-inc-arwd-2012.