Fontenot v. Stanolind Oil and Gas Company
| Decision Date | 26 April 1957 |
| Docket Number | No. 16446.,16446. |
| Citation | 243 F.2d 574 |
| Parties | Louis FONTENOT and Viola Andrus et al., Appellants, v. STANOLIND OIL and GAS COMPANY and Liberty Mutual Insurance Company, Intervenor, Appellees. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Fifth Circuit |
Paul C. Tate, Mamu, La., Emile A. Carmouche, Jr., Crowley, La., for appellants.
Charles Kohlmeyer, Jr., St. Clair Adams, Jr., New Orleans, La., Joseph Onebane, Lafayette, La., Lemle & Kelleher and Adams & Reese, New Orleans, La., of counsel, for appellees.
Before HUTCHESON, Chief Judge, and TUTTLE and JONES, Circuit Judges.
Plaintiffs-appellants brought separate tort actions for damages against defendant, alleging negligence in not furnishing a safe place to work, and further alleging that the work being performed by them was not, within the Louisiana Workmen's Compensation Act, a part of defendant's regular trade, business, or occupation.
Defendant-appellee moved in each case, with supporting affidavits, for a summary judgment on the ground that See. 6, LSA-2R.S. 23-1061, and Sec. 34, LSA-R.S. 23-1032, of the Louisiana State Workmen's Compensation Act granted an exclusive right to appellants for compensation, and that, on the issue tendered by plaintiffs, that the work being performed was not a part of defendant's regular trade, business, or occupation, there was no genuine dispute as to any material fact.
Thereafter, plaintiffs having replied to the motion, the district judge, for the reasons stated by him in a carefully considered, thorough going, and detailed opinion, published in D.C., 144 F.Supp. 818, setting out the contents of the affidavits, canvassing and discussing the law of the cases, including the two from this court, Isthmian Steamship Co. of Delaware v. Olivieri, 5 Cir., 202 F.2d 492 and Tucker v. Texas Co., 5 Cir., 203 F.2d 918, together with Thibodaux v. Sun Oil Co., 218 La. 453, 49 So.2d 852, and the other controlling Louisiana cases, and making findings of fact and conclusions of law, granted the motion and entered judgment accordingly.
Seeking reversal of the judgment, plaintiffs are here putting forward three points of error1 and, under these points, urging upon us in a scholarly presentation of their views as to the purpose, meaning and effect of the sections under construction, that the district judge gave a wrong construction and application to them, and, therefore reached a wrong result.
We do not think so. On the contrary, we are of the view that his...
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...850 (E.D.La., 1958), aff'd 261 F.2d 857 (5th Cir.); Fontenot v. Stanolind Oil & Gas Co., 144 F.Supp. 818 (W.D.La., 1956), aff'd 243 F.2d 574 (5th Cir.). Similarly, federal compensation systems were enacted for humane purposes. The legislation, in each instance, made limited inroads on sover......
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...v. Anderson, 5 Cir., 1958, 255 F.2d 246; Leslie v. Cities Service Refining Corp., 5 Cir., 1958, 252 F.2d 902; Fontenot v. Stanolind Oil & Gas Co., 5 Cir., 1957, 243 F.2d 574; Isthmian S. S. Co. of Delaware v. Olivieri, 5 Cir., 1953, 202 F.2d 492; Gant v. Jackson Brewing Co., La.App., 1959, ......
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...& Cas. Co., 192 So. 887 (La.Ct.App.1939). 4 See, e.g., Fontenot v. Stanolind Oil & Gas Co., 144 F.Supp. 818 (W.D.La.1956), aff'd, 243 F.2d 574 (5th Cir. 1957); Thibodaux v. Sun Oil Co., 40 So.2d 767 (La.Ct.App.1949); aff'd, 218 La. 453, 49 So.2d 852 (1950); Goodwin v. United States Rubber C......
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