Rhodes v. Sunshine Min. Co.

• Decision Date: 20 July 1987
• Docket Number: No. 16530,16530
• Citation: 113 Idaho 162,742 P.2d 417
• Parties: Ronald C. RHODES and Brenda Rhodes, husband and wife, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. SUNSHINE MINING COMPANY, a Delaware corporation; Hecla Mining Company, a Washington corporation; Silver Dollar Mining Company, an Idaho corporation; and International United Steel Workers of America, John Does I, II and III, Defendants-Respondents.
• Court: Idaho Supreme Court

Page 417

742 P.2d 417

113 Idaho 162

Ronald C. RHODES and Brenda Rhodes, husband and wife, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. SUNSHINE MINING COMPANY, a Delaware corporation; Hecla Mining Company, a Washington corporation; Silver Dollar Mining Company, an Idaho corporation; and International United Steel Workers of America, John Does I, II and III, Defendants-Respondents.

No. 16530.

Supreme Court of Idaho.

July 20, 1987.

Howard & Owens, Coeur d'Alene, for plaintiffs-appellants. Kenneth B. Howard, Jr. (argued).

Evans, Keane, Koontz, Boyd & Ripley, Boise, for defendants-respondents Sunshine Min. Co. and Hecla Min. Co. Rex Blackburn (argued).

Richard A. Cummings, Boise, for defendant-respondent Silver Dollar Min. Co.

Margaret L. McMahon, Caldwell, and George H. Cohen, Washington, D.C., for defendant-respondent Intern. United Steel Workers of America.

SHEPARD, Chief Justice.

Plaintiff-appellant Rhodes was working in an underground mine in Shoshone County when he was severely injured by falling rock. The injury left Rhodes permanently paralyzed below the waist, and there is no question that he is permanently and totally disabled. Rhodes asserted a claim against Sunshine Mining Company, and received worker's compensation benefits. There appears no question but that pursuant to I.C. §§ 72-407, -408, -409 and -432. Rhodes is entitled to the medical benefits and permanent total disability benefits for his lifetime.

Thereafter, plaintiffs Rhodes filed this action against Sunshine, Hecla, Silver Dollar, and International Steelworkers of America, contending that Sunshine, as the unit (mine) operator negligently failed to train and protect Rhodes; that Hecla and Silver Dollar, as non-operating unit members, negligently allowed Sunshine to supervise the work within the unit area; and that the unit breached a duty owed to Rhodes pursuant to a collective bargaining agreement. The three mining companies filed motions for summary judgment, and under I.C. § 72-102(10) the district court granted those motions, holding that Sunshine was the direct employer of Rhodes, and that Hecla and Silver Dollar were statutory employers, and hence action against the mining companies was barred by I.C. §§ 72-201(1) and -211. The district court, sua sponte, and without hearing, granted summary judgment in favor of United Steelworkers, relying upon Carroll v. United States Steelworkers of America, 107 Idaho 717, 692 P.2d 361 (1984) and Rawson v. United Steelworkers of America, S.Ct. # 15338 (Feb. 24, 1986), opinion withdrawn Sept. 4, 1986, 111 Idaho 630, 726 P.2d 742 (1986).

The principal issue on this appeal is whether the district court erred in granting summary judgment in favor of defendants Silver Dollar and Hecla on the basis that those companies were statutory employers and hence immune from tort liability. On this appeal appellants Rhodes do not assert error in the district court's grant of summary judgment to Sunshine.

Summary judgment is proper when there is no genuine issue of material fact, and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Summary judgment will be granted if no genuine issue as to any material fact is found to exist after the pleadings, depositions, and affidavits have been construed in a light most favorable to the party opposing summary judgment. Bunker Hill Company v. United Steelworkers of America, 107 Idaho 155, 686 P.2d 835 (1984); Meridian Bowling Lanes, Inc. v. Meridian Athletic Association, 105 Idaho 509, 670 P.2d 1294 (1983); Farmer's Insurance Company v. Brown, 97 Idaho 380, 544 P.2d 1150 (1976); Salmon Rivers Sportsman Camps, Inc. v. Cessna Aircraft Co., 97 Idaho 348, 544 P.2d 306 (1975); I.R.C.P. 56(c).

In the instant case the record does not disclose any genuine issue of material fact, but rather only questions of law relating to the status of Hecla and Silver Dollar as joint venturers and statutory employers who are shielded from tort liability.

I.C. § 72-201 provides in pertinent part:

The state of Idaho ... exercising herein its police and sovereign power, declares that all phases of the premises are withdrawn from private controversy, and sure and certain relief for injured workmen and their families and dependents is hereby provided ... to the exclusion of every other remedy ... all civil actions and civil causes of action for such personal injuries and all jurisdiction of the courts of the state over such causes are hereby abolished. ...

I.C. § 72-209(1) provides:

Exclusiveness of liability of employer.--(1) Subject to the provisions of section 72-223, the liability of the employer under this law shall be exclusive and in place of all other liability of the employer to the employee, his spouse, dependents, heirs, legal representatives or assigns.

Thus, it is clear that the purpose of Idaho's Workmen's Compensation Act is to provide sure and certain benefits for workmen injured during employment, but making that relief under the compensation act the workmen's exclusive remedy, and statutorily shielding an employer against an action in tort from those same injuries. That statutory shield, however, does not extend to third parties whose liability is preserved by I.C. § 72-223(1), which provides in pertinent part:

Third party liability.--(1) The right to compensation under this law shall not be affected by the fact that the injury, occupational disease or death is caused by circumstances creating in some person other than the employer a legal liability to pay damages therefor, such person so liable being referred to as the third party. ...

I.C. § 72-102(10) provides:

"Employer" means any person who has expressly or impliedly hired or contracted the services of another. It includes contractors and subcontractors. It includes the owner or lessee of premises, or other person who is virtually the proprietor or operator of the business there carried on, but who, by reason of there being an independent contractor or for any other reason, is not the direct employer of the workmen there employed. If the employer is secured, it means his surety so far as applicable.

In Adam v. Titan Equipment Supply Corp., 93 Idaho 644, 647, 470 P.2d 409, 412 (1970), this Court considered the statutory employer/employee relationship.

The relation thus established is purely statutory. The legislature for the purpose of the compensation act created the relation of employer and employee between independent groups who never before had borne, and who do not now under the common law bear that relation to each other. It forces liability upon parties who are in privity of contract.

This Court, in construing our workmen's compensation statutes, has at times focused on the right to control as being a significant element in determining statutory employer status. See In re Sines, 82 Idaho 527, 356 P.2d 226 (1960); Merrill v. Duffy Reed Constr. Co., 82 Idaho 410, 353 P.2d 657 (1960); State ex rel. Wright v. Brown, 64 Idaho 25, 127 P.2d 791 (1942); Larson v. Independent School Dist. No. 11-J, 53 Idaho 49, 22 P.2d 299 (1933). See also Fitzen v. Cream Top Dairy, 73 Idaho 210, 249 P.2d 806 (1952) (dealing with the authority to direct the details of work), and Beutler v. MacGregor Triangle Co., 85 Idaho 415, 380 P.2d 1 (1963); Russell v. City of Idaho Falls, 78 Idaho 466, 305 P.2d 740 (1956); State ex rel. Wright v. Brown, supra; Hanson v. Rainbow Mining and Milling Co., 52 Idaho 543, 17 P.2d 335 (1932); Taylor v. Blackwell Lumber Co., 37 Idaho 707, 218 P. 356 (1923) (relating to the authority to hire and fire). See also Lockard v. St. Maries Lumber Co., 76 Idaho 506, 285 P.2d 473 (1955) (relating to the existence of an employment contract). See In re Sines, supra; Merrill v. Duffy Reed Constr. Co., supra (relating to the payment of wages).

Other opinions of the Court have dealt with the consideration to be given such elements as ownership of the premises, proprietorship, virtual proprietorship, and management of the business. See McGee v. Koontz, 70 Idaho 507, 223 P.2d 686 (1950); Moon v. Ervin, 64 Idaho 464, 133 P.2d 933 (1943); Jones v. Packer John Mines Corp., 60 Idaho 653, 95 P.2d 572 (1939).

Another element to be considered is the source of the payment of workmen's compensation premiums. Commonly, the statutory employer pays the premiums covering his employees, since it is the employer's legal responsibility to insure that his employees are covered by workmen's compensation insurance. See I.C. §§ 72-201, -204, -210. See generally Pinson v. Minidoka Highway Dist., 61 Idaho 731, 106 P.2d 1020 (1940).

At the time of Rhodes' injury, the mine was being operated under a unitization agreement between Sunshine, Hecla and Silver Dollar. Rhodes' work site was within the area covered by the agreement and was designated as the "unit area." The Unit Agreement, which was executed in September 1958, resolved claims between the three mining companies, consolidated several agreements, and clarified the status of various mining claims asserted by each party within the unit area. See Silver Syndicate, Inc. v. Sunshine Mining Company, 101 Idaho 226, 611 P.2d 1011 (1979). Under the agreement, Sunshine, Hecla and Silver Dollar conveyed to a trustee their asserted respective individual property interests in the ores and minerals within the unit area. The trustee then conveyed back to each party an agreed upon percentage interest in the ores and minerals in the entire unit area, and each company received a proportionate share of the profits, or were allocated a share of the losses, i.e., Sunshine a 57.14 percent interest, Hecla a 33.25 percent interest, and Silver Dollar an 9.61 percent interest.

Under the agreement, Sunshine was designed as the unit operator, and Hecla and Silver Dollar were designated non-operator unit members. As the unit operator, Sunshine was "authorized and empowered on behalf of and for the account of all the parties hereto, to supervise, manage and conduct the orderly exploration and/or development,...