Stephens v. Justiss-Mears Oil Co.
| Decision Date | 24 April 1975 |
| Docket Number | JUSTISS-MEARS,No. 55667,55667 |
| Citation | 312 So.2d 293 |
| Parties | Robert STEPHENS et al. v.OIL CO. |
| Court | Louisiana Supreme Court |
William Henry Sanders, Jena, Wilson M. Montero, Jr., Martzell & Montero, New Orleans, for plaintiffs-applicants.
Howard B. Gist, Jr., Gist, Methvin & Trimble, Alexandria, for defendant-respondent.
This is a workmen's compensation case decided adversely to the plaintiffs on a motion for summary judgment, affirmed by the Court of Appeal. Stephens et al. v. Justiss-Mears Oil Co., 302 So.2d 717.
The only plaintiff remaining in this suit, Gary Malcomb, was the driller, or foreman, on one of Justiss-Mears' drilling rigs. The other three plaintiffs did not perfect an appeal from the trial judge's dismissal of the suit.
On January 26, 1973 the plaintiff met with his crew as arranged at an icehouse in Jena. From there they went together in the car of one of the crew to the drilling site. On this particular day the car they were riding in went out of control and struck a tree. Plaintiff was seriously injured and had not been able to return to work at the time his deposition was taken.
After the depositions of all of the parties involved and several officers of the company were taken, the defendant moved for summary judgment on the ground that 'the said petitioners in this lawsuit were not in the course and scope of their employment with Justiss-Mears Oil Company at the time of the accident in question, nor did the accident arise out of their employment . . .' The defendant attached ten depositions of the various parties to its motion to show that there was no dispute as to any issue of material fact.
The plaintiffs filed a memorandum opposing the summary judgment. In the memorandum the plaintiffs set out four contentions which asserted their right to receive compensation. As discussed below the contentions of the plaintiff do not raise any material issue of fact. The testimony of all of the witnesses deposed is identical on all of the key issues. Plaintiff's argument is not that the facts are in dispute, but that under the facts presented the plaintiff is entitled to workmen's compensation.
The plaintiff does not dispute the fact that the workers were not paid for their travel time, they were not reimbursed expenses for the use of their car, the company did not provide transportation to the drilling site, and that each worker could have driven his own vehicle to the drilling site each day if he so chose to do. The workers regularly met at an icehouse, filled a water can (water cans were provided by the company, but were the individual property of the crew members, who did not have to account to the company for the cans) with ice which the company paid for, and then got in the car of one of the crew members and drove to work. Each crew member took his turn driving to work. If for some reason a member could not drive on his assigned day the driller would drive that day, in addition to his regular day.
Malcomb, the driller, testified that it was part of his job to make sure that a full crew showed up at the well site on time. Mr. Nichols, the drilling superintendent for Justiss-Mears, testified that one of the duties of the driller was to make sure that an entire crew showed up at the rig on time. This was necessary because it was not possible to operate the rig with less than a full crew. The absence of one crew member would handicap the operation of the rig, and perhaps idle the rest of the crew.
Both lower courts properly cited the general rule that an employee is not considered to be in the course and scope of his employment while traveling to and from work. See: Malone, Louisiana Workmen's Compensation Law and Practice, § 171, page 199 and cases cited in footnote 24. There are several exceptions to this general rule. Plaintiff argues that these exceptions are applicable here. We do not reach this issue because the only plaintiff before this court, the driller Gary Malcomb, had already commenced the performance of his duties on the day in question and was performing one of his duties at the time of the accident. The company executive admitted in his deposition that it was the obligation of the driller to make sure that the crew arrived at the work site on time. The company apparently gave the driller broad discretion in determining...
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96-100 La.App. 3 Cir. 8/21/96, Kennedy v. Martin Gas Transp. Co., Inc.
...work is not in the course and scope of employment and, thus, is not entitled to worker's compensation benefits. See Stephens v. Justiss-Mears Oil Co., 312 So.2d 293 (La.1975); Tucker v. Northeast Louisiana Tree Service, 27,768 (La.App. 2 Cir. 12/6/95), 665 So.2d 672, writ denied, 96-63 (La.......
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McLin v. Industrial Specialty Contractors
...within the course and scope of his employment, and thus, are not compensable under the Workers' Compensation Act. Stephens v. Justiss-Mears Oil Co., 312 So.2d 293 (La. 1975); W. Malone & H. Johnson, 13 Louisiana Civil Law Treatise—Workers Compensation § 168 (4th ed.2002). This rule, often c......
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...work is not in the course and scope of employment and, thus, is not entitled to worker's compensation benefits. See Stephens v. Justiss-Mears Oil Co., 312 So.2d 293 (La.1975); Tucker v. Northeast Louisiana Tree Service, 27,768 (La. App. 2 Cir. 12/6/95), 665 So.2d 672, writ denied, 96-63 (La......
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Michaleski v. Western Preferred Cas. Co., 85-C-0480
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