Smith v. North American Stainless, L.P.

158 F. App'x 699
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
DecidedDecember 14, 2005
Docket04-5340
StatusUnpublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 158 F. App'x 699 (Smith v. North American Stainless, L.P.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Smith v. North American Stainless, L.P., 158 F. App'x 699 (6th Cir. 2005).

Opinions

GWIN, District Judge:

With this appeal, Plaintiff-Appellant Tina Smith and Intervening Plaintiff-Appellant Kentucky Employers’ Mutual Insurance appeal the district court’s decisions granting summary judgment to Defendants North American Stainless Limited Partnership (“NAS”), SMS Demag, Inc., Siemens Westinghouse Technical Services, Inc. and Siemens Energy and Automation (collectively, “Siemens”). The lawsuit arises out of the July 2002 death of James Smith while performing welding work at the NAS steel plant in Ghent, Kentucky. With their appeal, the Plaintiffs argue that the district court incorrectly found that (1) Defendant Siemens owed no duty of care to James Smith, thus stopping the Plaintiffs’ negligence claim, and (2) Defendants NAS and SMS Demag were immune under the Kentucky Workers’ Compensation Act. For the reasons that follow, we AFFIRM IN PART AND REVERSE IN PART the decision of the district court.

I. Background

In 1999, Defendant SMS Demag contracted with Defendant NAS for SMS Demag to install a new furnace in the melt shop at NAS’s Ghent, Kentucky plant. In turn, SMS Demag retained Artisan Mechanical as a subcontractor on the furnace project. On July 24, 2002, James Smith performed welding work on an electrode arm attached to a furnace at the Ghent plant. SMS Demag had recently installed the furnace. Smith worked for Artisan Mechanical. While Smith worked on the electrode arm, two Siemens engineers tested power breakers in another area of the plant.

[701]*701As part of their testing, the Siemens engineers opened a breaker and removed shunts from the electrical line to trigger a power loss. The breaker linked to the electrode arm upon which Smith worked. The electrode arm was designed to retract and raise out of a melting structure in the event of a power loss. When the engineers operated the breaker, the electrode arms began to automatically rise. In the process, two of the arms crushed James Smith. On July 26, 2002, Smith died from the injuries he received in the July 24, 2002, incident.

On May 6, 2003, James Smith’s widow sued the Defendants in state court in her individual capacity and as administratrix of her husband’s estate. The complaint generally alleged that the Defendants were negligent in failing to monitor and inspect the accident area and to take adequate safety precautions. After being served with the action, the Defendants removed the case to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky. Kentucky Employers’ Mutual Insurance paid benefits to the estate and intervened as a Plaintiff. In January and February 2004, the district court granted the Defendants’ motions for summary judgment. This appeal followed.

II. Legal Standard

This Court reviews a district court’s grant of summary judgment de novo. Holloway v. Brush, 220 F.3d 767, 772 (6th Cir.2000). Summary judgment is appropriate when the evidence submitted shows “that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law.” Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c). In seeking summary judgment, the moving party has the initial burden of showing the absence of a genuine issue of material fact as to an essential element of the nonmoving party’s case. Waters v. City of Morristown, 242 F.3d 353, 358 (6th Cir.2001). A fact is material if its resolution will affect the outcome of the lawsuit. Daughenbaugh v. City of Tiffin, 150 F.3d 594, 597 (6th Cir.1998) (citing Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 248, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986)). In deciding whether the moving party has met this burden, a court must view the facts and all inferences drawn from them in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party. Adickes v. S.H. Kress & Co., 398 U.S. 144, 158-59, 90 S.Ct. 1598, 26 L.Ed.2d 142 (1970). However, “a complete failure of proof concerning an essential element of the nonmoving party’s case necessarily renders all other facts immaterial.” Celotex Cory. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 323, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986).

Once the moving party satisfies this burden, the burden shifts to the nonmoving party to set forth specific facts showing a triable issue. Matsushita Elec. Indus. v. Zenith Radio Cory., 475 U.S. 574, 586, 106 S.Ct. 1348, 89 L.Ed.2d 538 (1986). It is not sufficient for the nonmoving party merely to show that there is some existence of doubt as to the material facts. See id.

A factual dispute precludes summary judgment only if it is material, that is, if it relates to a matter essential to adjudication. The dispute must concern facts that, under the substantive law governing the issue, might affect the outcome of the suit. Anderson, 477 U.S. at 248, 106 S.Ct. 2505. The factual dispute also must be genuine. The facts must be such that if proven at trial a reasonable jury could return a verdict for the nonmoving party. Id. “The disputed issue does not have to be resolved conclusively in favor of the nonmoving party, but that party is required to present significant probative evidence that makes it necessary to resolve the parties’ differ[702]*702ing versions of the dispute at trial.” 60 Ivy Street Corp. v. Alexander, 822 F.2d 1432, 1435 (6th Cir.1987) (citing First Nat’l Bank of Arizona v. Cities Serv. Co., 391 U.S. 253, 288-89, 88 S.Ct. 1575, 20 L.Ed.2d 569 (1968)); see also Celotex, 477 U.S. at 322, 106 S.Ct. 2548.

III. Discussion

On appeal, the Plaintiffs argue that the district court incorrectly found that (1) Defendant Siemens was not negligent and (2) Defendants NAS and SMS Demag have “up-the-ladder” immunity under the Kentucky Workers’ Compensation Act. Defendant Siemens responds that it did not owe any duty to James Smith, or alternatively, that it satisfied its duty. Defendants NAS and SMS Demag both argue that they have up-the-ladder immunity.

A Negligence

To state a claim of negligence under Kentucky law, a plaintiff must establish that (1) the defendant owed a duty of care to the plaintiff, (2) the defendant breached its duty, and (3) the breach proximately caused the plaintiff’s damages. See James v. Meow Media, Inc., 300 F.3d 683, 689 (6th Cir.2002), cert. denied, 537 U.S. 1159, 123 S.Ct. 967, 154 L.Ed.2d 893 (2003). Kentucky’s courts recognize a “universal duty of care” under which “every person owes a duty to every other person to exercise ordinary care in his activities to prevent foreseeable injury.” Id. at 690.

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158 F. App'x 699, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/smith-v-north-american-stainless-lp-ca6-2005.