Williams v. Keystone General Contractors, Inc.

• Decision Date: 20 May 1986
• Docket Number: No. 85-C-0981,85-C-0981
• Citation: 488 So.2d 999
• Parties: Lawrie G. WILLIAMS v. KEYSTONE GENERAL CONTRACTORS, INC. and Travelers Insurance Company. 488 So.2d 999
• Court: Louisiana Supreme Court

Page 999

488 So.2d 999

Lawrie G. WILLIAMS v. KEYSTONE GENERAL CONTRACTORS, INC. and Travelers Insurance Company.

No. 85-C-0981.

488 So.2d 999

Supreme Court of Louisiana.

May 20, 1986.

Rehearing Denied June 19, 1986.

Fred A. Blanche, III, Baton Rouge, for plaintiff-applicant.

Grayson H. Brown, Baton Rouge, for defendants-respondents.

LEMMON, ^* Justice.

The issue in this workmen's compensation case is whether plaintiff's employment with defendant had been terminated before the accident which caused plaintiff's allegedly disabling injury. The trial court found that there was no employment relationship on the date of the accident and dismissed the suit. The court of appeal affirmed in an unpublished opinion. 468 So.2d 40 (1985). We granted certiorari to review these rulings. 470 So.2d 116.

Defendant corporation was a general contractor. Plaintiff worked for defendant in Morgan City as general manager from August, 1981 until December, 1981, when he was terminated because of the lack of work. On January 2, 1984, defendant's president, Robert Wadhams, rehired plaintiff at a salary of $800 per week. Although there was still little work in the Morgan City-Houma area, plaintiff was employed to "hustle some work" in the Baton Rouge area where plaintiff lived and had numerous contacts in the industrial plants.

The accident occurred on February 23, 1984. Wadhams testified that plaintiff had been laid off on February 4, while plaintiff testified that he had not been separated from employment prior to the accident. In addition to the directly conflicting testimony of these parties, there was considerable other evidence bearing on the issue of plaintiff's employment status on the date of the accident.

Defendant's payroll records supported a termination date of February 4. Plaintiff was paid on a weekly basis, as were all other employees except the president. His last pay check was dated February 11, 1984, covering work for the week ending February 4. The computer printouts of the payroll records for the months of January and February showed that plaintiff did not work for the corporation after February 4.

As to the absence of checks after February 11, plaintiff explained that Wadhams told him on January 11 that he could no longer pay him on a weekly basis because of cash flow problems. When Wadhams changed the pay days to the first and fifteenth of the month, plaintiff's next check was not due until after the accident.

On the other hand, considerable evidence supported a conclusion that plaintiff's employment continued through the date of the accident. Plaintiff retained possession of the company truck after February 4. On February 14 plaintiff obtained a set of bid specifications on defendant's behalf for work on the Capital Annex Building and furnished a $30 cash deposit. He delivered these plans to Wadhams and worked actively in preparing estimates for the project (although no bid was ever submitted because defendant lost its bonding capacity). On the day of the accident plaintiff was driving defendant's truck on his way to an appointment to discuss the sale of defendant's crane with a prospective purchaser. After the accident, Wadhams sent a separation notice to the Office of Employment Security which indicated that plaintiff had last worked on February 24 and that he had been separated from employment on March 6 because an injury sustained in an accident prevented him from making the daily trip from Baton Rouge to Morgan City. On March 7 Wadhams verified plaintiff's employment to a lending agency in connection with plaintiff's application for a loan.

Wadhams attempted to explain away the documentary and other strong circumstantial evidence of employment. He testified that he wanted to sell the truck which had been assigned to plaintiff and that he allowed plaintiff to use the truck while making arrangements for a loan to finance the purchase. Plaintiff was to return the truck on February 21, the day that plaintiff delivered other papers as a favor to Wadhams, but Wadhams allowed him to keep it longer on the representation that either plaintiff or a friend would buy it shortly. Wadhams further testified that he verified plaintiff's employment to the lending agency in order to assist plaintiff in obtaining the loan to finance purchase of the truck.

Wadhams also denied authorizing plaintiff to sell the crane, either as an employee or a broker, and he asserted he had never heard of the prospective purchaser. He conceded, however, that plaintiff would have gone back to work for defendant if they had secured the contract for the Capital Annex, because defendant had the license and the bonding capacity and plaintiff had the specialty equipment. Wadhams also explained that he filed the separation notice at plaintiff's request in order to help a valued former employee obtain unemployment compensation.

Wadhams further testified that defendant's insurer first learned of the accident on March 14. ¹ On the insurer's advice, Wadhams "set the record straight" by writing to the Office of Employment...