Schmit v. Tjitandi

223 So. 3d 153, 2016 La.App. 1 Cir. 1431, 2017 WL 2399350, 2017 La. App. LEXIS 1049
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedJune 2, 2017
DocketNO. 2016 CA 1431
StatusPublished

This text of 223 So. 3d 153 (Schmit v. Tjitandi) 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
Schmit v. Tjitandi, 223 So. 3d 153, 2016 La.App. 1 Cir. 1431, 2017 WL 2399350, 2017 La. App. LEXIS 1049 (La. Ct. App. 2017).

Opinion

THERIOT, J.

|2The plaintiff-appellant, Bruce Schmit, Jr., individually and on behalf of his minor daughters, Samantha M.' Schmit and Bailey A. Schmit, appeals the trial court’s ruling on opposing motions- for summary judgment rendered in favor of the defendants-appellees, Setfried Tjitandi,1 Qualified Cable Contractor, LLC (“Qualified”), and Progressive Insurance Company (“Progressive”). For the following reasons, we reverse in part, affirm in part, and remand for further proceedings.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

On August 20, 2014, Mr. Schmit was involved in an automobile accident that occurred during the course and scope of his employment with Cable Marketing Installations, Inc. (“CMI”). Mr. Schmit sustained significant bodily injuries after being struck by a 2005 Chevrolet Express van that was owned by Qualified, insured by Progressive, and driven by Mr. Tjitan-di. Thereafter, on February 9, 2015, Mr. Schmit filed a tort action seeking damages against the defendants. Mr. Schmit claimed that the accident was caused by the negligence of Mr. Tjitandi, whom he alleged failed to follow the proper procedure of circling the van to ensure there were no equipment or other hazards out[155]*155side of his line of site. Mr. Schmit further asserted that Mr. Tjitandi was an employee of Qualified acting within the course and scope of his employment with Qualified at the time of the accident; Mr. Schmit therefore claimed that Qualified and its liability insurer, Progressive, should be held vicariously liable to him.

On April 27, 2015, the defendants answered Mr. Schmit’s petition for damages and raised several affirmative defenses thereto, including, in pertinent part, the affirmative defense of “injury by fellow servant.”

|sOn January 27, 2016, following certain pre-trial matters not at issue on appeal, Mr. Schmit filed a motion for partial summary judgment against the defendants. Mr. Schmit claimed that there were -no genuine issues of material fact and that he was entitled to judgment as a matter of law with respect to the issue of the defendants’ affirmative defense of injury by fellow servant, which Mr. Schmit styled as the “borrowed employee” defense. In support of his motion for partial summary judgment, Mr. Schmit argued that Mr. Tjitandi was employed by Qualified at the time of the accident and was not an employee or borrowed employee of CMI.

On March 14, 2016, the defendants filed a cross-motion for summary judgment and opposition to' Mr. Schmit’s motion for partial summary judgment, seeking a judgment declaring the Louisiana Workers’ Compensation Act (“LWCA”), La. R.S. 23:1020.1, et seq., to be the exclusive remedy available to Mr. Schmit. In their memorandum in support of their motion for summary judgment, the defendants specifically stressed that they had not claimed, and were not claiming, that Mr. Tjitandi was a borrowed employee of CMI. Rather, the defendants submitted that Mr. Tjitandi was a “full on employee” of CMI operating within the course and scope of his employment at the time of accident in accordance with the factors set forth in Hickman v. Southern Pacific Transport Co., 262 La, 102, 262 So.2d 385 (1972). Mr. Schmit opposed the defendants’ cross-motion for summary judgment.

On June 20, 2016, the opposing motions for summary judgment came before the trial court for a hearing. In open court, the trial court orally denied Mr. Schmit’s motion for partial summary judgment and granted the defendants’ cross-motion for summary judgment. Thereafter, on. July 25, 2016, the trial court signed a final judgment denying Mr. • Schmit’s motion 14for partial summary judgment, granting the defendants’ cross-motion for summary judgment, and ordering the dismissal of all of Mr. Schmit’s claims with prejudice. Mr. Schmit appeals.

ASSIGNMENTS OF ERROR

Mr. Schmit does not present numbered assignments of error in brief, but nevertheless specifies, in paragraph form, the following issues for our appellate review: 1) the trial court erred in denying his motion for partial summary judgment as to the affirmative defense of. injury by a fellow servant being inapplicable and irrelevant; 2) the trial court erred in granting the defendants’ motion for summary judgment dismissing his claims in light of the deposition testimony and affidavits demonstrating that Mr. Tjitandi was ah employee of Qualified and not CMI; and 3) in the alternative, the trial court erred in granting the defendants’ motion for summary judgment dismissing his claims in light of the deposition testimony and affidavits demonstrating that there are material issues of fact as to Mr. Tjitandi’s employment status.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

In our review of the trial court’s ruling on the opposing motions for summary [156]*156judgment,2 we use the same criteria that govern- the trial court’s consideration of whether summary judgment is appropriate, i.e., whether there is a genuine issue of material fact and whether the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. See Supreme Services & Specialty Co., Inc. v. Sonny Greer, Inc., 06-1827 (La. 6/22/07), 958 So.2d 634, 638. Because it is the substantive law that determines materiality, whether a particular fact in dispute is material can only be seen in light of the substantive law ^applicable to the case. See Smith v. Berteau, 98-1438 (La.App. 1 Cir. 6/26/99), 739 So.2d 269, 272.

DISCUSSION

Mr. Schmit disputes the correctness of the trial court’s ruling on the opposing motions for summary judgment. Initially, we note that the determinative issue set forth in the opposing motions for summary judgment concerns the nature of the relationship between Mr. Tjitandi and Mr. Schmit at the time of the accident on August 20, 2014. More particularly, notwithstanding Mr. Schmit’s arguments' relative to the issue of the borrowed employee defense, in light of the judicial admission of the defendants in their motion for summary judgment, the singular question presented on appeal is whether the trial court correctly determined that the defendants were entitled to judgment as a matter of law declaring Mr. Tjitandi to be an employee of CMI, and, therefore, a co-employee of Mr. Schmit entitled to tort immunity under the LWCA.

Generally speaking, an employee who is injured in an accident while in the course and scope of his employment is limited to' the recovery of workers’ compensation benefits as per the following provisions of the LWCA:

A. (l)(a) Except for intentional acts ... the rights and remedies herein granted to an employee or his dependent on account of an injury, or compen-sable sickness or disease for which he is entitled to compensation under [the LWCA], shall be exclusive of all other rights, remedies, and claims for damages, including but not limited to punitive or exemplary damages, unless, such rights, remedies, and damages are created by a statute, whether now existing or created in the future, expressly establishing same as available to such employee, his personal representatives, dependents, or relations, as against his employer, or any principal or any officer, director, stockholder, partner, or employee of such employer or principal, for said injury, or compensable sickness or disease.
L(b) This exclusive remedy is exclusive of all claims, including any claims that might arise against his employer ... or employee of such employer ... under any dual capacity theory or doctrine.

La. R.S. 23:1032 (emphasis added).

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Bluebook (online)
223 So. 3d 153, 2016 La.App. 1 Cir. 1431, 2017 WL 2399350, 2017 La. App. LEXIS 1049, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/schmit-v-tjitandi-lactapp-2017.