Binz v. Brandt Const. Co., Inc., 01-3075.

• Citation: 301 F.3d 529
• Decision Date: 19 August 2002
• Docket Number: No. 01-3075.,01-3075.
• Parties: Pamela BINZ, individually and as Special Administrator of the Estate of John Binz, Deceased, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. BRANDT CONSTRUCTION CO., INC., Defendant-Appellee.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Seventh Circuit

301 F.3d 529

Pamela BINZ, individually and as Special Administrator of the Estate of John Binz, Deceased, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. BRANDT CONSTRUCTION CO., INC., Defendant-Appellee.

No. 01-3075.

United States Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit.

Argued February 26, 2002.

Decided August 19, 2002.

Steven P. Garmisa (argued), Hoey, Farina & Downes, Chicago, IL, for Plaintiff-Appellant.

David L. LaPorte (argued), Querrey & Harrow, Chicago, IL, for Defendant-Appellee.

Before FAIRCHILD, COFFEY, and KANNE, Circuit Judges.

KANNE, Circuit Judge.

Pamela Binz ("appellant") appeals from the district court's grant of summary judgment in favor of Brandt Construction Co., Inc., finding that Brandt Construction owed no duty of care to John Binz, Pamela's deceased husband, under Illinois negligence law. We affirm.

I. History

Iowa Interstate Railroad Ltd. is an interstate rail freight carrier. In October 1998, Iowa Interstate was conducting a tie installation construction project ("construction project") on the Sylvan Slough Bridge. Terry Benton, an Iowa Interstate engineering superintendent, was responsible for planning and overseeing the construction project. After determining that Iowa Interstate lacked sufficient labor and equipment to efficiently complete the construction project, Benton contacted Brandt Construction and entered into an oral contract with Brandt Construction, whereby Brandt Construction agreed to lease to Iowa Interstate a specified number of workers and equipment. Brandt Construction provided Iowa Interstate with six laborers, including one "foreman," and equipment. Brandt Construction did not, however, provide expertise with respect to any aspect of the construction project.

John Binz ("decedent") was an employee of Iowa Interstate. On October 8, 1998, he was performing tie replacement work on the Sylvan Slough Bridge. As he stood up after completing his work on the bridge, the decedent turned to give a "thumbs-up" signal to one of his co-workers, and he stumbled backwards and fell. He temporarily clung to the bottom of the bridge, but before help arrived, he fell into the water below. The water was approximately 15 feet deep, and the decedent, being fully dressed and wearing heavy work boots, drowned.

Immediately prior to his accident, the decedent and Roger Bassett, an Iowa Interstate employee and the working foreman at the construction site, had been operating a piece of equipment that had been loaned to Iowa Interstate by Brandt Construction. No one from Brandt Construction was helping to operate the equipment, and no evidence was presented suggesting that the equipment malfunctioned or was unreasonably unsafe for its intended purpose. Unfortunately, at the time of the accident there was no fall protection or safety equipment on the bridge. Neither Iowa Interstate nor Brandt Construction had made a boat or skiff, life vests, lifelines, lanyards, or safety nets available at the construction site.

On October 13, 1998, the appellant filed a complaint against Iowa Interstate pursuant to the Federal Employers' Liability Act ("FELA"), 45 U.S.C. § 51, et seq. On April 3, 2000, she amended her complaint, adding Brandt Construction as an additional defendant, alleging that Brandt Construction breached common law duties owed to her husband, and violated certain statutory regulations, thereby proximately causing the decedent's fall and death. Subsequently, the district court approved a settlement agreement between the appellant and Iowa Interstate valued at $1,328,000.00 and dismissed her claims against Iowa Interstate with prejudice. The district court then granted summary judgment in favor of Brandt Construction and against the appellant, finding that Brandt Construction did not owe the decedent a statutory duty, a common law duty, or a contractual duty.

In making its summary judgment determination, the district court considered the following evidence: At his deposition, Benton explained that the six Brandt Construction laborers were not permitted to direct Iowa Interstate employees in the performance of their duties at the construction site. Rather, Benton stated, Henry Musgrave, an Iowa Interstate employee, was responsible for the day-to-day scheduling of the work to be performed on the bridge, and for determining the manner, means, and methods to be used in completing the construction project. Roger Bassett's brother, Terry Bassett, was also a foreman on the construction project. Roger explained at his deposition that although Brandt Construction supplied Iowa Interstate with one foreman, this laborer reported directly to Terry Bassett and to Henry Musgrave. Finally, in a sworn affidavit, Terrance L. Brandt, corporate secretary of Brandt Construction, stated "[t]hat Brandt Construction Company could not, and did not, exercise supervision, direction, or control over the workers it supplied to Iowa Interstate while on the Sylvan Slough Bridge job site," and "[t]hat Brandt Construction Company could not, and did not, exercise supervision, direction, or control over any workers or any of the activities on the Sylvan Slough Bridge job site."

The appellant argues that the district court erred when it concluded that Brandt Construction owed no duty of care to the decedent and granted summary judgment in Brandt Construction's favor. She contends that the Federal Railroad Administration's ("F.R.A.") Bridge Worker Safety Standards required Brandt Construction to provide safety equipment at the construction site and therefore imposed a duty of care on Brandt Construction. Additionally, she contends that Illinois common law imposes a duty of reasonable care on contractors that runs to the employees of other contractors who are working on the same construction project. Thirdly, the appellant argues that Brandt Construction contractually assumed a duty of care. Finally, she asserts that the district court improperly retained supplemental jurisdiction over her state law negligence claim after dismissing her federal claim.

II. Analysis

First, with respect to jurisdiction, contrary to the appellant's final argument on appeal, the district court did not abuse its discretion by retaining supplemental jurisdiction over her state law negligence claim after dismissing her sole federal claim because this case does not raise any novel or unsettled questions of Illinois negligence law and because discovery was already complete. See Kennedy v. Schoenberg, Fisher & Newman, Ltd., 140 F.3d 716, 727-28 (7th Cir.1998) (noting that the district judge is given broad discretion in balancing factors such as judicial economy, convenience, fairness, and comity and in making decisions concerning the retention of supplemental claims).

In regard to her remaining arguments, we review a district court's grant of summary judgment de novo, viewing in a light most favorable to the non-moving party all reasonable inferences drawn from the evidence. See Furnish v. SVI Sys., Inc., 270 F.3d 445, 448 (7th Cir.2001). Summary judgment is proper when the "pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law." Id. (citing FED. R. CIV. P. 56(c)). If the non-moving party fails to make a sufficient showing on an essential element of its case on which that party will bear the burden of proof at trial, the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. See Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 322-23, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986).

To prevail in a negligence action under Illinois law, the appellant was required to establish: 1) that Brandt Construction owed a duty of care to the decedent; 2) that Brandt Construction breached the duty of care; and 3) that Brandt Construction's breach of the duty proximately caused the injury to the decedent. See Espinoza v. Elgin, Joliet & Eastern Ry. Co., 165 Ill.2d 107, 208 Ill. Dec. 662, 649 N.E.2d 1323, 1326 (Ill.1995). Under Illinois law, a duty is owed when parties stand in such a relationship to one another that the law imposes an obligation on the defendant to act reasonably for the protection of the plaintiff. See Ziemba v. Mierzwa, 142 Ill.2d 42, 153 Ill. Dec. 259, 566 N.E.2d 1365, 1366 (Ill.1991). The appellant argues that Brandt Construction and the decedent stood in such a relationship and that the district court erred when it found that Brandt Construction owed no such duty to the decedent. The appellant maintains that Brandt Construction owed a duty based on three theories.

First, she argues that the Bridge Worker Safety Standards created a duty...