Thomas v. Tubbs

193 So. 3d 203, 2016 La. App. LEXIS 682, 2016 WL 1445583
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedApril 13, 2016
DocketNo. 50,597-CA
StatusPublished

This text of 193 So. 3d 203 (Thomas v. Tubbs) 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
Thomas v. Tubbs, 193 So. 3d 203, 2016 La. App. LEXIS 682, 2016 WL 1445583 (La. Ct. App. 2016).

Opinion

WILLIAMS, J.

| ,The plaintiff, Ronnie Thomas, appeals a district court’s summary judgment in favor of defendant, Sheriff Mike Tubbs, in his capacity as the administrator of the Morehouse Parish Work Release Program. The lower court dismissed the plaintiffs lawsuit. For the following reasons, we affirm.

FACTS

On July 8, 2013, the plaintiff, Ronnie Thomas, was incarcerated in the custody of the Department of Public Safety and Corrections (“DPSC”) and was housed in the Morehouse Parish jail. -He was a participant in a.work release program administered by the Morehouse Parish Sheriffs Office. Under the program, the plaintiff completed an application for employment with the Morehouse Parish Police Jury (“police jury”). He was subsequently hired and was assigned to the waste management department to work as a “hop-pef” on a garbage truck. The position required the plaintiff to ride at the rear of the garbage truck and to jump on and off the truck to collect garbage from roadside receptacles. The plaintiff suffered a work-related injury to his leg and hip when he accidentally fell, while jumping from the rear of one of the garbage trucks.

On June 9, 2014, the plaintiff filed a lawsuit seeking damages for his injuries. Named as defendants were the DPSC, the Morehouse Parish Sheriff and Ex-Officio [205]*205administrator for the Morehouse Parish Work Release Program (“the sheriff’) and the Morehouse Parish Police Jury’s Solid Waste Department. The plaintiff alleged, inter alia, that defendants had breached their duty to provide him with a safe working environment.

| ¿The sheriff filed a motion for summary judgment, arguing that he “owed no duty to provide Plaintiff with a safe work-placet.]” According to the sheriff, at the time of the plaintiffs injury, the plaintiff was employed by Morehouse Parish Solid Waste, a third-party entity. The sheriff argued that the police jury owed a duty to the plaintiff to provide a safe work environment. Similarly, the police jury moved for summary judgment, arguing that since the plaintiff was working as an employee of the police jury at the time of the accident, then his exclusive remedy was in workers’ compensation.

The plaintiff opposed the motions for summary judgment, arguing that he wás not a police jury “employee” within the ordinary sense of the term. He asserted that the sheriff had assigned him to work in the garbage department, set his hours and negotiated his pay. Additionally, he argued that his wages were paid through the inmate banking system.

Following a hearing, the district court granted summary judgment in favor of the sheriff, stating:

[The] Lee case says the incarcerating entity [that] allows an inmate to join a work -release program does not have a duty to provide the inmate with a safe working environment. Instead, the duty belongs to the employer!who enjoys the immunities provided for in worker’s compensation.
* # *
The Court does note that it does not find that there is any statute-that requires that of the sheriff to give a reasonable workplace. Considering the nature of the work, the person who hires the inmate and gets the benefit of that, this Court believes the sheriff is not responsible for providing the work release inmate with a safe working environment.
The plaintiff appeals.

^DISCUSSION

The plaintiff contends the district court erred in granting summary judgment in favor of the sheriff. The plaintiff argues that since he was an inmate housed in the custody of the sheriff of Morehouse Parish, then as custodian, the sheriff owed him a duty to provide and maintain a safe work environment.

The law regarding motions for summary judgment is well settled.1 LSA-R.S. [206]*20615:711 authorizes the work release program for certain'inmates and specifies that it is to be administered by the sheriff of the parish where the inmate is housed. Work release inmates are not deemed to be employees of the state, but are considered the employees of their private employer and are entitled to workers’ compensation benefits. Rogers v. Louisiana Dep’t of Corr., 43,000 (La.App.2d Cir.4/30/08), 982 So.2d 252, writ denied, 2008-1178 (La.9/19/08), 992 So.2d 931; Clinton v. Reigel By-Products, Inc., 42,-497 (La.App.2d Cir.9/19/07), 965 . So.2d 1006, writ not cons., 2007-2239 (La.2/15/08), 976 So.2d 168. See also Becnel v. Charlet, 446 So.2d 466 (La.App. 4th Cir.1984); Parker v. State, 353 So.2d 333 (La.App. 1st Cir.1977), writ denied, 354 So.2d 1375 (La.1978).

In Clinton, supra, the inmate, a participant in a work release program, sustained a fatal injury while working at a chicken processing plant. The inmate’s parents filed, a wrongful death lawsuit against .various defendants, including the.Caddo Parish sheriff and the processing plant. The sheriff was dismissed from the lawsuit pursuant, to a. motion for summary judgment. The plaintiffs opposed the plant’s motion for summary judgment, arguing that the inmate was an employee of the Department df 'Corrections, rather than an employee of the-plant. The district court granted summary judgment in favor of the plant. This Court affirmed, stating:

As evidenced by the work release agreement, [the inmate] was considered an employee of [the plant]. [The plant] supervised him-while at the job site and paid him directly. While particular conditions applied to both [the inmate] and [the plant] as part of the work release agreement, none of those requirements removed [the inmate] from the employment relationship with [the plant]. We consider, therefore, [the inmate] to be an employee of [the plant].

Id. at 1010.

In Rogers, supra, the decedent was housed in the Webster Parish Jail. He was killed while working at a pallet company as a participant in a work release program. His survivors filed a lawsuit, naming the Department of Corrections, the sheriff and the private employer as defendants. This court concluded that the private employer had proved that it was the decedent’s | (¡special employer and that workers’ compensation was thé plaintiffs’ exclusive remedy.

In Lee v. State ex rel. Dept. of Safety & Corr., 2010-1013 (La.App. 3d Cir.3/30/2011), 60 So.3d 106, writ not considered, 2011-0914 (La.6/17/11), 63 So.3d 1030, the plaintiff was an inmate participating in a work release program. He was assigned to a job at a lumber company and was injured while working. The plaintiff filed a lawsuit against the Department of Corrections, the Rapides.- Parish Sheriff and the Rapides Parish.Police. Jury. The Department of Corrections moved for summary judgment, arguing that the inmate was an employee of the lumber company, rather than an employee of the state. The court of appeal affirmed the district court’s’ grant of summary judgment, stating:

[W]e are convinced that' the principles enunciated in Rogers with regard to work release inmates not being, employ[207]*207ees of the State are applicable to the matter before us. .

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Related

Parker v. State
353 So. 2d 333 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1978)
Samaha v. Rau
977 So. 2d 880 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 2008)
Rogers v. Louisiana Dept. of Corrections
982 So. 2d 252 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2008)
King v. Illinois National Insurance
9 So. 3d 780 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 2009)
Becnel v. Charlet
446 So. 2d 466 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1984)
Todd v. Angel
132 So. 3d 453 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2014)
Reynolds v. Bordelon
172 So. 3d 607 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 2015)
Lee v. State ex rel. Department of Public Safety & Corrections
60 So. 3d 106 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2011)

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Bluebook (online)
193 So. 3d 203, 2016 La. App. LEXIS 682, 2016 WL 1445583, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/thomas-v-tubbs-lactapp-2016.