Henderson v. Estate of Wiggins
| Decision Date | 14 May 2015 |
| Docket Number | Docket No. CV-2013-166 |
| Parties | JOSHUA HENDERSON, and STACEY HENDERSON, as Personal Representatives of the Estate of DENNIS R. KAY, Plaintiffs, v. ESTATE OF DOUGLAS J. WIGGINS et al, Defendants. |
| Court | Superior Court of Maine |
Plaintiffs Joshua and Stacey Henderson, as personal representatives of the Estate of Dennis R. Kay, are seeking to recover against Mr. Wiggins and "Mr. Wiggins d/b/a Option Rentals" on the theory that Mr. Wiggins negligently caused Mr. Kay's wrongful death. In particular, Plaintiffs contend that Mr. Wiggins ordered Mr. Kay to carry out a vehicle transfer in conditions he knew were unsafe for driving. (See Amended Complaint, ¶¶ 22-32 (hereinafter, "Complaint").)
Defendant Tress Springmann, as personal representative of the Estate of Douglas J. Wiggins, moves to dismiss the Complaint arguing that the claims against Mr. Wiggins are barred by the Workers' Compensation Act.1 In support of her motion to dismiss, Ms. Springmann relies on affidavits and exhibits attached thereto. Because Ms. Springmann's motion to dismiss relies on documents outside of the pleadings, the court will treat Ms. Springmann's motion to dismiss as one for summary judgment. Libner v.Maine County Comm'rs Ass'n, 2004 ME 39, ¶ 7, 845 A.2d 570 ().
Concurrent with this motion, Ms. Springmann also moves for summary judgment against Counts I and III of the Complaint contending, in pertinent part, that the Plaintiffs cannot meet their prima facie burden to establish duty and causation for their wrongful death claim.2
For the reasons discussed below, the court grants summary judgment in favor of Ms. Springmann.
In Plaintiffs' Complaint, they assert that Mr. Wiggins d/b/a Option Rentals provided services to Budget Truck Rental, LLC ("Budget Truck"),3 including, but not limited to, renting Budget Truck vehicles to customers and coordinating the movement of Budget Truck vehicles among various other business locations throughout New England.(Pls.' Complaint ¶ 12.) Plaintiffs allege that Mr. Wiggins d/b/a Option Rentals "substantially disregarded the safety of his employees and the public in general," "knew that certain drivers operating under his employ were not licensed to operate motor vehicles," "would often instruct drivers...to operate [Budget Truck] vehicles with an insufficient number of seats to safely seat each driver inside the vehicle," and "knew that those drivers without proper seating would sit in the cargo area of the vans in lawn chairs or on blankets while traveling...." (Id. at ¶¶ 14-17.) More specifically, Plaintiffs assert that on December 30, 2011 and again on December 31, 2011—the day of Mr. Kay's allegedly wrongful death—Mr. Wiggins ordered Mr. Kay to use a Budget Truck vehicle to carry out a vehicle transfer. (See id. at ¶¶ 22-23.) Mr. Wiggins allegedly ordered Mr. Kay to make this transfer despite knowing there were dangerous weather conditions. (Id. at ¶ 23.) While carrying out the transfer, Mr. Kay lost control of his vehicle due to dangerous road conditions and crashed. (Id. at ¶¶ 28, 31-32.) Mr. Kay was killed in the crash. (Id. at ¶ 32.)
Plaintiffs' Complaint asserts that Mr. Wiggins d/b/a Option Rentals "hired and paid Dennis Kay on a regular basis to perform for Option Rentals" and that "Dennis Kay was an employee of Douglas Wiggins d/b/a Option Rentals." (Id. at ¶¶ 18-19.) The Amended Complaint does not allege that Mr. Kay was an independent contractor for Douglas Wiggins d/b/a Option Rentals.
Mr. Wiggins ordered Mr. Kay to perform a Budget Truck transfer on December 28, 2011 at 11:00 p.m. (Pls.' A.S.M.F. ¶ 57.) Mr. Kay and other drivers returned fromthat transfer during the early morning hours of December 30, 2011. (Id. at ¶ 58.) Mr. Kay was supposed to perform another Budget Truck transfer for Option Rentals on the evening of December 30, 2011. (Id. at ¶ 59.) However, on the afternoon of December 30, 2011, Mr. Kay made his reservations known to Mr. Wiggins about performing a transfer in inclement weather. (Id. at ¶ 60.) In particular, Mr. Kay spoke to Mr. Wiggins about the weather and the potential for a storm. (Id. at ¶ 61.) Mr. Wiggins responded that if the transfer did not occur on the evening of December 30, 2011, it would need to occur on the morning of December 31, 2011. (Id. at ¶ 62.)
On the morning of December 31, 2011, Mr. Kay picked up his grandsons, Carlton Norwood and Thomas Bourque, in a Budget Truck van to perform the transfer. (Pls. A.S.M.F. ¶ 64.) Mr. Bourque testified that when he talked to Mr. Kay on December 30, 2011, Mr. Kay commented that the 31st might be a better day for the transfer because it was only supposed to rain. (Exhibit A to Ms. Springmann's S.M.F., Deposition of Thomas Bourque ("Bourque Dep.") 46.) However, as far as Mr. Bourque knew, the December 31, 2011 transfer could have been carried out on January 1 or 2. (Id. at 44.)
Mr. Bourque explained that when Mr. Kay picked him up on the morning of the 31st, Mr. Kay was happy that the weather was, at the moment, decent for traveling. (Id.) After picking up Mr. Bourque, Mr. Kay drove the group to Ainslie's Market in Gardiner, Maine. (Id. at 50-51.) Ainslie's Market is approximately a mile and a half to two miles from Mr. Bourque's house. (Id. at 19.)
At Ainslie's Market, Mr. Bourque exited the van and testified that there was a temperature difference between the time he was picked up by Mr. Kay and the time theyarrived at Ainslie's. (Id. at 51.) He also testified that after the crash, he may have told Stacey Henderson, Mr. Kay's daughter, that the temperature dropped 20 degrees in the ten minutes he was in the market. (Id.) He also stated that the roads were fine one minute and then the next minute, "the roads were just- - everything happened so fast." (Id. at 52.)
Joshua Henderson, Mr. Kay's son, testified that around 7:00 am on the morning of the 31st, he told his father that bad weather was coming in. This statement was in reference to the fact that Joshua had heard that there was a chance of snow later in the day. (Id.) Mr. Kay, however, told Joshua that the roads were wet, but it was very warm. (Id. at 40-41.) While Joshua was talking to Mr. Kay on the phone, he looked over at a bank clock and saw that it read 40 degrees. (Id. at 41.)
At 8:00 a.m. on the 31st, Joshua testified that he was told to go outside at his workplace and place salt because the temperature "just dropped dramatically[.]" (Id.) Joshua described the weather change as (Id.) When he went out to salt, Josh testified that the ground was "glazed over, really iced, yes, and it was very, very cold...." (Id. at 42.) The co-worker who asked Joshua to go outside and salt "was standing outside smoking a cigarette" and stated "isn't it f___weird?" to which Joshua responded (Id.)
To his knowledge, Joshua Henderson testified that neither Mr. Wiggins nor Mr. Kay knew the weather was going to be bad on December 31, 2011. (Id. at 53-54; see also Exhibit E. to Ms. Springmann's S.M.F., Deposition of Stacey Henderson ( ) (testifying that, as far as she knew, neither Mr. Wiggins nor Mr. Kayknew that the roads were going to get icy later in the morning of December 31, 2011).) Joshua opined that it was just a freak accident. (J. Henderson Dep. 55.) Consistent with this opinion, Mr. Kay's children and other relatives stated that Mr. Kay would not have taken his grandsons, Messrs. Bourque and Norwood, out on the road that day if he thought the road conditions would be unsafe. (See id at 54; Bourque Dep. 46-47; S. Henderson Dep. 108; Exhibit F to Ms. Springmann's S.M.F., Deposition of Donna Henderson ( )
The former store manager for Option Rentals, Kimberly McGruder testified that she arrived at Option Rentals, from her home in Chelsea, Maine, at 8:00 am on the morning of December 31, 2011. She testified that on her drive in to work the roads were slick and her car was sliding off the road, although she managed to keep it on the road. (Id. at 8.) Similarly, Robert A Maskell, who knew both Mr. Wiggins and Mr. Kay, testified that December 31, 2011
Official weather records from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration ("NOAA") indicate that the high temperature in the City of Gardiner, Maine on December 31, 2011 was below freezing at 27 degrees Fahrenheit. That same day, NOAA records indicate the high temperate in the City of Augusta was 33 degrees Fahrenheit, with a low of 24 degrees and 0.16 inches of precipitation that day. (Id.)
After leaving Ainslie's Market, Mr. Kay lost control of the van and crashed. (See Ms. Springmann's S.M.F. ¶ 1; Bourque Dep. 20.) Mr. Bourque testified that the accident occurred approximately 1½-2 miles from Ainslie's. (Bourque Dep. 20.) Mr. Kay was ejected from the van and...
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