Rushing v. St. Paul Fire & Marine, Insurance Co.

877 So. 2d 275, 2004 La. App. LEXIS 1565, 2004 WL 1395732
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedJune 23, 2004
DocketNo. 38,611-CA
StatusPublished

This text of 877 So. 2d 275 (Rushing v. St. Paul Fire & Marine, Insurance Co.) 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
Rushing v. St. Paul Fire & Marine, Insurance Co., 877 So. 2d 275, 2004 La. App. LEXIS 1565, 2004 WL 1395732 (La. Ct. App. 2004).

Opinion

| GARRISON, J. (Pro Tempore).

The plaintiff, Charles Rushing, appeals a judgment in favor of the defendants, St. Paul Fire & Marine Insurance Company (“St.Paul”) and Giovanni Reid. The district court granted defendants’ motion for summary judgment on the grounds that plaintiffs exclusive remedy was a claim for workers’ compensation because he was injured in an accident while in the course of his employment. For the following reasons, we affirm.

FACTS

On November 7, 2001, Charles Rushing was a passenger in a 1997 GMC vehicle owned by the Order of Franciscan Friars and operated by Brother Giovanni Reid, a member of that religious order. Rushing was accompanying Reid to a meeting at the local office of the cable television provider. Reid was proceeding west on Hollywood Avenue in Shreveport, Caddo Parish, when he failed to stop for a red light at an intersection and collided with another vehicle. As a result of the collision, Rushing was physically injured and received medical treatment. At the time of the accident, Reid was Executive Director of the Christian Services Program Institute (“Christian Services”). Rushing was employed by Christian Services as the director of its homeless shelters.

Subsequently, the plaintiff, Rushing, filed a petition for damages against the defendants, Christian Services, Reid and [277]*277St. Paul, the automobile liability insurer of the Franciscans. Reid and St. Paul filed a motion for summary judgment alleging that plaintiffs exclusive remedy was a claim for workers’ compensation benefits because he was injured in the course of his employment.

| ¡¡After a hearing, the district court granted defendants’ motion for summary judgment, dismissing the plaintiffs claims with prejudice. Plaintiff appeals the judgment.

DISCUSSION

In three assignments of error, the plaintiff contends the district court erred in granting the motion for summary judgment. Plaintiff argues that he should not be limited to a claim for workers’ compensation because he was not injured in an accident arising from and in the course of his employment.

Summary judgment shall be rendered if the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, admissions on file and any affidavits, show that there is no genuine issue of material fact and that the mover is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. LSA-C.C.P. art. 966. The mover has the burden of establishing the absence of a genuine issue of material fact. However, if the mover will not bear the burden of proof at trial on the matter, the mover is not required to negate all essential elements of the adverse party’s action or defense, but rather to point out to the court the absence of factual support for one or more elements essential to the adverse party’s claim or action. The non-moving party must then produce factual support sufficient to satisfy his evidentiary burden at trial. LSA-C.C.P. art. 966(C)(2). Appellate courts review summary judgments de novo under the same criteria that govern the district court’s consideration of whether summary judgment is appropriate. NAB Natural Resources v. Willamette Industries, Inc., 28,-555 (La.App.2d Cir.8/21/96), 679 So.2d 477.

LSA-R.S. 23:1031 provides for workers’ compensation benefits to an |semployee who receives personal injury by accident “arising out of and in the course of his employment.” Except for intentional acts, workers’ compensation benefits granted to a worker due to injury shall be exclusive of all other rights, remedies and claims for damages. This exclusive remedy excludes any claims that may arise against his employer or any principal, officer or director of such employer. LSA-R.S. 23:1032. The terms “arising out of’ and “in the course of’ constitute a dual requirement. The former suggests inquiry into the character or origin of the risk, while the latter concerns the time and place relationship of the risk and the employment. Guillory v. Interstate Gas Station, 94-1767 (La.3/30/95), 653 So.2d 1152.

To determine that an accident arises out of employment, a court must consider (1) whether the employee was engaged in his employer’s business and not merely pursuing his own.interest, and (2) whether the employer’s business reasonably required the employee’s presence at the accident location when the accident occurred. Haywood v. Dugal, 00-334 (La.App. 5th Cir.10/31/00), 772 So.2d 240. If the employee was called to the place and time of the accident due to his employer’s business, then his injuries arose from his pursuit of the employer’s interests and not from pursuing his own business or pleasure. Haywood v. Dugal, supra.

An accident occurs in the course of employment when the employee sustains an injury while actively engaged in the performance of his duties during work hours, either on the employer’s premises or at other places where employment ac[278]*278tivities take the employee. Keith v. Gelco Corp., 30,022 (La.App.2d Cir.12/10/97), 705 So.2d 244; May v. Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word, 26,490 (La.App.2d Cir.3/1/95), 651 So.2d 375. The principal criteria for determining course of employment are time, place and employment activity. Tucker v. Northeast La. Tree Service, 27,768 (La.App.2d Cir.12/6/95), 665 So.2d 672.

In support of their motion for summary judgment, defendants filed excerpts from the deposition of Reid, who testified that he was the Executive Director of Christian Services. Reid stated that on the day of the accident, he was driving to the local cable television office to attend a meeting to discuss the broadcast of the annual fund raising telethon for Christian Services. Reid testified that plaintiff and his staff at the homeless shelter needed to be interviewed for the telethon by cable station personnel and that scheduling times for those interviews was part of plaintiffs job. Reid stated that plaintiff could have done this task over the telephone and he was not obligated to go to the cable office, but that plaintiff wanted to go.

Plaintiff submitted his deposition for inclusion in the record of this case. Plaintiff testified that he had been employed by Christian Services as director of homeless shelters and that he was responsible for screening shelter applicants and operation of the facilities. Plaintiff stated that he typically worked from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. and that part of his job description involved tape-recording a television program. Plaintiff testified that he had asked to ride with Reid when he went to the cable office to discuss the telethon fund raiser. Plaintiff stated that on the day of the accident, he had been working in his office when Reid asked if he was going to the station. The plaintiff testified that although his job duties did not require him to 1 ^accompany Reid to the meeting, he wanted to go to satisfy his “intellectual curiosity” and because he was interested in the various functions of his employer. Plaintiff stated that he received a salary and was paid for his time while riding with Reid and attending the meeting at the cable station. The plaintiff testified that after the accident, they continued to the cable office and he sat with Reid in the meeting.

In support of his position, plaintiff cites the cases Tucker and Hebert v. Jeffrey, 94-1230 (La.App. 1st Cir.4/7/95), 653 So.2d 842. However, unlike the present situation, the accidents in those cases did not occur during work hours and the employees were not paid for their travel time.

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Related

May v. SISTERS OF CHARITY OF INCARNATE WORD
651 So. 2d 375 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1995)
Guillory v. Interstate Gas Station
653 So. 2d 1152 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 1995)
Hebert v. Jeffrey
653 So. 2d 842 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1995)
NAB Nat. Resources v. Willamette Industries, Inc.
679 So. 2d 477 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1996)
Tucker v. Northeast Louisiana Tree Service
665 So. 2d 672 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1995)
Haywood v. Dugal
772 So. 2d 240 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2000)
Keith v. Gelco Corp.
705 So. 2d 244 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1997)

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Bluebook (online)
877 So. 2d 275, 2004 La. App. LEXIS 1565, 2004 WL 1395732, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/rushing-v-st-paul-fire-marine-insurance-co-lactapp-2004.