Berry v. Holston Well Service, Inc.
| Decision Date | 10 April 1985 |
| Docket Number | No. 84-293,84-293 |
| Parties | Lynn D. BERRY, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. HOLSTON WELL SERVICE, INC., et al., Defendants-Appellees. 467 So.2d 90 |
| Court | Court of Appeal of Louisiana — District of US |
Jones, Jones & Alexander, Glenn W. Alexander, Cameron, for plaintiff-appellant.
Caffery, Oubre, Dugas & Campell, John Blackwell, New Iberia, Raggio, Cappel, Chozen & Berniard, Thomas L. Raggio, Lake Charles, Lestage, Lestage & Landreneau, DeRidder, Stockwell, Sievert, Viccellio, Clements & Shaddock, Robert W. Clements, Lake Charles, for defendant-appellee.
Before DOMENGEAUX, DOUCET and KING, JJ.
Plaintiff-appellant, Lynn D. Berry, an employee of CRC Western Wireline Services, Inc. instituted this tort action against defendant-appellees, Sohio Petroleum Company, Holston Well Service, Inc., Crutcher Resources Corporation, Continental Insurance Company, (Sohio's liability insurer), and Home Insurance Company, (Holston's and Crutcher's liability insurer) for personal injuries he allegedly sustained while performing his duties as a member of an oilfield wireline crew during work over operations of a lease and well owned and operated by Sohio. This appeal arises out of the district court's decision to grant a motion for summary judgment on behalf of Sohio Petroleum Company and Continental Insurance Company, thereby dismissing the plaintiff's tort demand against those two parties.
On June 23, 1977, the date of the alleged accident, the plaintiff was employed as a hoistman for CRC Western Wireline Services, Inc. His petition alleges that he received severe injuries to his back and legs during work over operations on a lease and well owned and operated by defendant Sohio Petroleum Company.
At the time of the alleged accident Sohio was engaged in "working over" an old well located in the vicinity of the Fields community in Beauregard Parish. Sohio had contracted with Holston Well Services, Inc. to furnish the necessary rig, equipment and personnel for the drilling portion of the work over job.
Several weeks into the work over operation it became necessary to perforate the well at a certain depth. Sohio then contracted with CRC Western Wireline Services, Inc. to perform the perforating work and to provide the necessary labor, tools, equipment and materials to do the work. Pursuant to that agreement, CRC Western Wireline sent a wireline crew composed of Harvey M. Twiner, Johnny Landry and the plaintiff, Lynn D. Berry, to the well location to complete the perforating work.
From the depositions contained in the record we are able to conclude that wireline work is a specialized field in oilfield operations. It consists generally of attaching various speciality tools to an electrically charged cable and then lowering those tools down into the hole to perform the necessary tasks. Functions performed by these tools include perforating the casing by use of explosive charges, "plugging back" the well, "packing off" or sealing parts of the well, and other such jobs. On the day of the accident the wireline equipment had been attached to the well-head and the perforation of the casing had been completed. Plaintiff claims that his injury occurred during the process of removing the wireline tools from the derrick floor to the ground by means of a hoist line. He contends that his leg and back strain occurred as he guided the heavy equipment to a clear area on the ground to be dismantled.
The plaintiff filed this tort law suit on June 22, 1978, alleging that the injury to his back and legs was caused by the negligence of Holston Well Service, Inc. and Sohio Petroleum Company for improperly and unsafely stacking a large amount of pipe in the close vicinity of the well site and the working area, and in failing to provide a sufficient and adequate amount of space for the wireline crew to use for the removal and dismantling of their equipment.
The defendants, Sohio Petroleum Company, Holston Well Services, Crutcher Resources Corporation, Continental Insurance Company, and Home Insurance Company, filed motions for summary judgment. On November 10, 1983, the district court granted the motion for summary judgment on behalf of the Sohio Petroleum Company, its liability insurer, Continental Insurance Company, and Holston Well Services, and dismissed the plaintiff's tort action against those parties.
The district judge found that wireline operations were a part of the regular trade, business or occupation of Sohio Petroleum Company and therefore under the provisions of La.R.S. 23:1061 1 Sohio was the plaintiff's "statutory employer". Inasmuch as Sohio was Mr. Berry's "statutory employer" the trial court concluded that his tort suit should be dismissed as his sole remedy against Sohio was in worker's compensation.
The district judge relied upon a line of cases which held that work performed by the employees of independent contractors during work over operations of an oil company's wells was part of the oil company's trade, business or occupation in finding that wireline operations were part of the regular trade, business or occupation of Sohio. Thibodaux v. Sun Oil Company, 218 La. 453, 49 So.2d 852 (1950), and Stelly v. Waggoner Estates, 355 So.2d 12 (La.App. 1st Cir.1978).
The plaintiff-appellant raises one issue on appeal: Whether the performance of wireline operations during the work over of an oil and gas well should be considered a part of the regular trade, business or occupation of the oil company whose lease the well is on.
Benson v. Seagraves, 436 So.2d 525 (La.1983).
The appellant relies upon Louis v. Exxon Corporation, 441 So.2d 192 (La.1983) 2 and Benson v. Seagraves, supra, as the basis for his appeal. In Louis v. Exxon, supra, our Supreme Court held:
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