Stelly v. Waggoner Estates

• Decision Date: 28 December 1977
• Docket Number: No. 11655,11655
• Citation: 355 So.2d 12
• Parties: Donald Roy STELLY v. WAGGONER ESTATES et al.
• Court: Court of Appeal of Louisiana — District of US

Page 12

355 So.2d 12

Donald Roy STELLY v. WAGGONER ESTATES et al.

No. 11655.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, First Circuit.

Dec. 28, 1977.

Rehearing Denied Feb. 13, 1978.

Writ Refused March 31, 1978.

Anthony J. Fazzio, Eunice, for plaintiff and appellee.

Michael Harson, Lafayette, for intervenor.

Wood Brown, III, New Orleans, for defendants and appellant.

Before LANDRY, SARTAIN and ELLIS, JJ.

ELLIS, Judge.

This is a suit for damages for personal injuries, and, alternatively, for workmen's compensation benefits, brought by Donald Roy Stelly. Defendants are Killen Moore, as Trustee of the W. T. Waggoner Estate, Ralph Thornhill, North River Insurance Company and United States Fire Insurance Company. T. & H. Well Service and The Home Insurance Company, plaintiff's employer and its workmen's compensation insurer, intervened to collect all or a pro rata share of compensation benefits paid to plaintiff.

After trial on the merits, judgment was rendered in favor of plaintiff and against all defendants, in solido, for $75,000.00. Judgment was rendered on the intervention in favor of Home Insurance and against plaintiff for all amounts paid to plaintiff under the workmen's compensation statute. From this judgment all defendants have appealed. Neither plaintiff nor intervenors have appealed nor answered the appeal taken herein. Therefore, the sole question presented by this appeal is that of the liability of the defendants in tort.

W. T. Waggoner Estate was the owner and operator of the Darrow Field, which contains 20 oil wells. Waggoner employed Ralph Thornhill as a pumper at the field. As such he "tended to the wells". More specifically, he checked the various wells to see that things were going all right; checked the well pressures; and made reports. In addition, he would relay information from any oil well crews which might be working in the field to his immediate superior, Mr. C. D. Hawley. He did no purchasing or hiring and wrote no checks. He made no decisions as to what work was to be done on the wells. The only other employee in the field was a relief man who came on Sundays.

When it became necessary to work over a well, in order to keep it producing, a contractor would be hired to do the work. At the time of the accident in this case, T. & H. Well Service had been hired to work over one of the wells. Waggoner paid for the rig and crew at an hourly rate, and the crew was subject to the instructions of Mr. Hawley, who "engineered" the job. Plaintiff was a derrick hand for T. & H.

On the day of the accident, Mr. Thomas Picard, who was the driller in charge of the T. & H. crew, told Mr. Thornhill that he needed a choke box to replace the one on the well being re-worked. Mr. Thornhill and Mr. Stelly went together to another well which had been abandoned, intending to remove the choke box from that well.

Mr. Thornhill testified that Mr. Picard told him to take Mr. Stelly with him. Mr. Picard denied this, but said that it was customary for one of the men to assist Mr. Thornhill if he had something to do that was too much for him. In any event, it is clear that procuring the choke box was necessary to the completion of the workover job being done by T. & H.

The well from which the choke box was to be obtained had been abandoned some time prior to the accident. At the well head there was an assemblage of valves known as the christmas tree. The main, or master, valve serves to shut off the well completely. If that valve is open, flow from the well then proceeds through the wing valve to the choke box, and thence to the flow line. In addition, there is a small hand valve, known as the bleeder valve, which controls flow to a pressure gauge.

Mr. Thornhill testified that, at the time the well was abandoned, it was "dead completely dead", and there was no pressure. The master valve was shut off at that time, and both the wing valve and bleeder valve were closed. A pressure gauge, which had been on the christmas tree, had been removed by Mr. Thornhill after the well was abandoned, about six months before the accident. Mr. Thornhill was of the opinion that there was no pressure in the christmas tree.

When Mr. Thornhill and Mr. Stelly, both of whom were experienced oil field workers, arrived at the well to remove the choke box, Mr. Stelly asked if there was any pressure, and was told that there was not. He checked the master valve and the wing valve and found them to be closed. He tried to open the bleeder valve and found it to be frozen shut. After he had performed these operations, he testified, Mr. Stelly believed it to be safe to remove the choke box.

This operation is performed by removing the wing valve, which is taken off by striking it with a hammer. Mr. Stelly and Mr. Thornhill each took a turn in attempting to remove the valve in this manner, without success. Mr. Stelly then took a second turn, and, after he had struck the valve a few more times, it came loose. There was a sudden release of pressure, which was likened to an explosion, and which knocked Mr. Stelly to his knees. Debris and rust particles from within the valve were blown into his eyes, causing the injury for which this suit was brought.

Waggoner argues that it cannot be held liable in tort to the plaintiff, because it occupies the position of statutory employer to him, and can be liable only in workmen's compensation. R.S. 23:1061 provides:

"Where any person (in this section referred to as principal) undertakes to execute any work, which is a part of his trade, business, or...