Harris v. Gill

• Decision Date: 26 July 1991
• Citation: 585 So.2d 831
• Parties: Michael L. HARRIS v. Nelson GILL and K.D. Moore. 1900519.
• Court: Alabama Supreme Court

Page 831

585 So.2d 831

Michael L. HARRIS v. Nelson GILL and K.D. Moore.

1900519.

Supreme Court of Alabama.

July 26, 1991.

R. Wayne Wolfe of Wolfe, Jones & Boswell, Huntsville, for appellant.

Jerry Kronenberg and Kenneth A. Jenero of McBride, Baker & Coles, Chicago, Ill., and Benjamin R. Rice of Spurrier, Rice & Henderson, Huntsville, for appellees.

HOUSTON, Justice.

Michael L. Harris appeals from the trial court's summary judgment in favor of Nelson Gill and K.D. Moore in this action to recover damages for personal injury to Harris. This action was brought under Ala.Code 1975, § 25-5-11 (part of the Alabama Workmen's Compensation Act). We reverse and remand.

The summary judgment was proper in this case if there was no genuine issue of material fact and the defendants were entitled to a judgment as a matter of law. Rule 56, A.R.Civ.P. The burden was on the defendants to make a prima facie showing that no genuine issue of material fact existed and that they were entitled to a judgment as a matter of law. If that showing was made, then the burden shifted to the plaintiff to present evidence creating a genuine issue of material fact, so as to avoid the entry of a judgment against him. In determining whether there was a genuine issue of material fact, this Court must view the evidence in the light most favorable to the plaintiff and must resolve all reasonable doubts against the defendants. Wakefield v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Ins. Co., 572 So.2d 1220 (Ala.1990). Because this action was not pending on June 11, 1987, the applicable standard of review is the "substantial evidence" rule. Ala.Code 1975, § 12-21-12. "Substantial evidence" is "evidence of such weight and quality that fair-minded persons in the exercise of impartial judgment can reasonably infer the existence of the fact sought to be proved." West v. Founders Life Assurance Co. of Florida, 547 So.2d 870, 871 (Ala.1989); § 12-21-12.

After reviewing the evidence before us, we find that the following material facts are not in dispute: At the time of the on-the-job accident made the basis of this suit, from which accident Harris suffered injuries, he had been employed by Coyne Cylinder Company ("Coyne") ¹ at its plant in Huntsville, Alabama, for approximately four months. He worked as a material handler on the second shift in the pressing department, and his duties consisted primarily of material handling and press operation. Harris reported directly to Bill Henderson, the second shift supervisor in the pressing department. Henderson reported to K.D. Moore (a superior of Harris and manager of fabrication operations); and Moore, in turn, reported to Gill (a superior of Harris and vice-president of manufacturing). Gill and Moore generally were responsible for maintaining in a reasonably safe condition the punch press at which Harris was working and generally were responsible for supervising and providing all safety practices and procedures utilized by Coyne.

The punch press on which Harris was injured was originally manufactured by the Hydraulic Press Manufacturing Company of Mount Gilead, Ohio. Coyne had purchased the press from a used equipment dealer in June 1985. It was approximately 40 years old at that time, and it was purchased for use in processing metal footings and collars for cylinders. When the press arrived at Coyne, it was basically unusable. It was neither equipped with nor accompanied by any safety buttons, guards, or devices. Coyne's engineering department had to rewire and rework the press in order to get it operational. In June 1985, when the press first was put into operation at Coyne, it had a panel across the front that had been installed by the engineering department. The panel contained, among other things, palm control buttons to activate the press and an emergency stop button. At that time, the palm control buttons were the only activating device on the press. Sometime thereafter, Coyne began making a new kind of collar for the gas cylinders; the new collars were longer or taller than before. Because of their size, weight, and configuration, these collars would fall off the die when the operator removed his hands to depress the palm control buttons. As a result, in order to keep the collars in place on the die and to punch holes in the collars with the exactness and precision necessary for their eventual use, the operator had to hold the collar firmly in place throughout the operating cycle. The operator could not use his hands to activate the press with the palm control buttons, because it physically was not possible for him to hold the collar in place and depress the palm control buttons at the same time. Subsequently, at some point between June 1985 and early 1987, a foot control pedal (which was equipped with a cover and an elevated pedal to prevent accidental depression) was added to the press as an alternative activating device to enable the operator to activate the press with his foot while holding the collar in place with his hands. Thereafter, either the foot control or the pre-existing palm control buttons could be used to activate the press.

During the five-year period preceding Harris's accident, which occurred on February 27, 1989, safety-related inspections of the press site were conducted by both Coyne's insurance carriers and the Birmingham area office of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration ("OSHA"). Coyne's insurance carriers conducted at least 16 comprehensive loss control surveys during this period, but none of the corresponding reports identified any unsafe conditions concerning the press. The OSHA inspection was conducted at Coyne in January 1988, and Gill personally accompanied the OSHA inspector during that inspection. At Gill's request, Moore ran collars on the press for the OSHA inspector, specifically demonstrating the two-handed nature of the operation and utilizing the foot control pedal to activate the press. During the OSHA inspection, as was true at the time of Harris's injury, there were no barrier guards or other devices to physically prevent the operator's hand from entering the point of operation. Although the OSHA inspector cited Coyne for violations elsewhere in the plant, he issued no citations in connection with the safeguarding or general safety of the press.

Prior to the accident, on at least one occasion, Harris had run the press after Henderson had provided Harris with general orientation and instruction on the press--Henderson showed Harris the press; explained the press and its operation; advised that there was an on-off switch on the left side of the press; showed the parts (i.e., collars) to be run; showed where to make the cuts; and showed how to cut the parts, by demonstrating the operation, using the foot control pedal to activate the press.

Similarly, on the day of the accident, Henderson assigned Harris to the press, took him to the press, and instructed him how and where to hold and cut the parts, with both hands on the collar to ensure accurate cuts, while activating the press with the foot control pedal. On that day, Coyne was using a new die on the press, which was designed to make rectangular cuts rather than half-moon shaped cuts on the collar, and Henderson had demonstrated the operation to Harris. Thus, on that day, Harris was running collars on the press, using the foot control pedal as the activating device. While standing at the press, Harris would reach into a metal basket to his left to get an unprocessed collar. He then would load the collar onto the die with his hands; hold the collar in place; make a first cut by activating the press with the foot control; align the collar with his hands; hold the collar in place; make a second cut with the foot control pedal; and repeat the process to make a third cut. After completing the process, Harris would remove the collar from the die and drop it into a basket of processed parts to his right. The operation Harris was performing required him to load the collar onto the die with his hands, hold it in place and rotate it on the die during the operating cycle, and then remove it with his hands. Because the particular collar being run by Harris had a curled edge, which threw it off balance so that it would not lie flat on the die set, he had to hold the collar in place against the back of the die set in order to ensure accurate cuts. If he did not follow this procedure, the collars would be mispunched. Because he could not both hold the collar in place and use his hands to activate the press with the palm control buttons, he used the foot control pedal as the activating device. When Harris had made the last cut on the collar he was running, he removed it from the die and threw it into the basket of finished parts to his right. Noticing that a piece that had been cut from the collar had not fallen into the scrap box below the die set, but was lodged inside the die, Harris tried to dislodge the piece from the die set with his right hand while reaching left to pick up an uncut collar. While his fingers were inside the die set at the point of operation, dislodging the piece of scrap, Harris depressed the foot pedal, which activated the press and, as a result, the index and middle fingers of his right hand were amputated.

Following the accident, Harris filed a workmen's compensation claim against Coyne. He received a lump sum settlement for his injury in the amount of $16,906. Coyne's workmen's compensation insurance carrier also paid all of Harris's related medical bills, in the amount of $10,933, as well as temporary total disability benefits in the amount of $1,403. Harris subsequently filed this suit against Gill and Moore personally, seeking damages under Ala.Code 1975, § 25-5-11(c)(1) and (c)(2). The complaint alleged that, as his supervisors, Gill and Moore had caused Harris's injury by failing to provide a safe place to work, by failing to properly supervise Harris's work, by removing...