Rhodes v. Wright

790 N.E.2d 577, 2003 Ind. App. LEXIS 1113, 2003 WL 21469647
CourtIndiana Court of Appeals
DecidedJune 26, 2003
Docket88A05-0302-CV-64
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 790 N.E.2d 577 (Rhodes v. Wright) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Indiana Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Rhodes v. Wright, 790 N.E.2d 577, 2003 Ind. App. LEXIS 1113, 2003 WL 21469647 (Ind. Ct. App. 2003).

Opinion

OPINION

BAKER, Judge.

Appellants-plaintiffs Amy M. Rhodes and Janet Gurtz as the co-personal representatives of the Estate of Dwaine D. Gurtz (the Estate) appeal the trial court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of appellees-defendants Wright Brothers Farm (the Farm), Mark D. Wright, Stacy Wright, Chris E. Wright, Julie Wright, Alan Wright, and Judy Wright (collectively, the Wrights). Specifically, the Estate contends that the Wrights were liable for the conditions on the Farm when Dwaine was struck.and killed by a forklift. Concluding that the Wrights’ duty to maintain their property in a reasonably safe manner did not include providing exterior lighting or other alleged “safety features” proffered by the Estate, we affirm the trial court’s grant of summary judgment.

FACTS

The Wrights own the Farm and are in the business of raising chickens. In December 1999, the Wrights entered into a contract with Tyson Foods, Inc. (Tyson), an independent contractor. The contract specified Tyson’s responsibilities, which included owning the chickens, supplying their feed, and gathering them for processing. The contract also specifically detailed the Wrights’ duties, which included providing the facility, the labor, and the utilities used to raise the chickens. Appellants’ App. p. 125. The relevant portion of the Farm consists of six chicken houses, with the area west of the first chicken house maintained by the Wrights as the driveway and loading area. Both the chicken houses and area surrounding the houses were built in accordance with Tyson regulations, which did not require exterior lighting. Appellants’ App. p. 61-62.

When Tyson agents collect chickens, a specific procedure is followed in accordance with the contract. First, Tyson sends notice of their impending visit approximately three days before the chicken collection. Then, upon Tyson’s arrival, a representative of the Farm and the “catching foreman” walk through the house to remove the dead birds. This is the Wrights’ only responsibility during the catching procedure per the contract. Finally, the lights inside the chicken house are turned off, to avoid scaring the chickens, and the catching commences. The actual catching and loading process is Tyson’s responsibility as defined by the contract:

[Tyson] or its designee at its sole discretion shall have the right to schedule the broilers for processing. [Tyson] will no *579 tify the [Farm] of the scheduled time for pick-up as soon as practicable. [Tyson] shall catch, load and transport the broilers to a place designated by [Tyson] at no cost to the [Farm],

Appellants’ App. p. 70. (emphases added).

The Farm received written notice on February 9, 2001, that representatives from Tyson would arrive on the premises and catch chickens on February 13, 2001. Appellants’ App. p. 168-70. On February 13, 2001, Mark Wright, the only Farm representative present, met Tyson’s crew supervisor Steve Tindall at 3:00 a.m. to begin the collection.

Before loading, the Tyson forklift operator, Michael Berry, completed a pre-operation check of the Tyson forklift and reported to Tindall that the four backup lights and backup alarm did not work. Appellants’ App. p. 42-43. In response, Tindall taped glow sticks to the back of the forklift. Appellants’ App. p. 141. On that occasion, Tindall and Wright did not walk through the chicken houses. Rather, the men waited in Tindall’s truck for Tyson’s crew to complete the job.

At the time of the accident, two Tyson trucks were parked along the left side of the first chicken house. Berry individually carried empty cages into the chicken house which were filled by Tyson employees and subsequently loaded into the truck. With the full cages, Berry backed out the front door of the first chicken house, turned the rear of the forklift to align himself with the truck, then pulled forward to load the cage onto the truck parked to the left of the front door.

After five cages were loaded onto the truck, Gurtz, a Tyson truck driver, parked his truck to the right of the first chicken house. Gurtz exited his truck and prepared it for loading. As Berry exited the chicken house in reverse for the sixth time, he struck Gurtz, crushing him to death against Gurtz’s own truck.

On February 28, 2002, in its second amended complaint, the Estate asserted a claim of negligence against the Wrights as owners of the Farm. Specifically, the Estate claimed that the Wrights failed to illuminate the area around the chicken houses and maintain the forklift in a manner that would have protected Gurtz from the injuries that befell him. The Wrights moved for summary judgment, claiming they were entitled to a judgment as a matter of law because illumination and maintenance of machinery were Tyson’s responsibilities and the Wrights otherwise fulfilled their duty to maintain the Farm in a reasonably safe manner for business invitees. Following a hearing on the motion, summary judgment was entered for the Wrights on January 7, 2003. The Estate now appeals.

DISCUSSION AND DECISION

The Estate contends that the trial court erroneously entered summary judgment for the Wrights because they did not maintain the Farm in a reasonably safe manner for business-invitees. In addressing this contention, we first note that summary judgment shall be granted if the designated evidence demonstrates that “there is no genuine issue of material fact and that the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.” Ind. Trial Rule 56(C). On appeal from summary judgment, an appellate court faces the same issues that were before the trial court and follows the same process. Owens Corning Fiberglass Corp. v. Cobb, 754 N.E.2d 905, 908 (Ind.2001). The party appealing from a summary judgment decision has the burden of persuading the court that the grant or denial of summary judgment was erroneous. Id. Further, all doubts as to the existence of material issues of fact must be resolved *580 against the nonmoving party. Id. This court will affirm an order granting summary judgment on any legal basis supported by the designated evidence. Merrill v. Knauf, 771 N.E.2d 1258, 1264 (Ind. Ct.App.2002), trans. denied.

The sole issue is whether the Wrights’ duty to maintain reasonably safe conditions on the Farm for business invitees included providing exterior illumination and other “safety features.” It is undisputed that in his capacity as a Tyson employee, Gurtz was the Wrights’ business invitee. See Burrell v. Meads, 569 N.E.2d 637, 642 (Ind.1991) (adopting the business invitee rule from Restatement (Second) of Torts § 332 (1965)). In general, a landowner has no duty to furnish a safe workplace to an independent contractor, but there is a responsibility to keep the property in a reasonably safe condition. Merrill, 771 N.E.2d at 1264. Furthermore, the landowner’s duty to maintain a reasonably safe condition extends to employees of an independent contractor.

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Related

Rhodes v. Wright
805 N.E.2d 382 (Indiana Supreme Court, 2004)

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Bluebook (online)
790 N.E.2d 577, 2003 Ind. App. LEXIS 1113, 2003 WL 21469647, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/rhodes-v-wright-indctapp-2003.