Stockwell v. Parker Drilling Co., Inc., 86-96
Decision Date | 12 March 1987 |
Docket Number | No. 86-96,86-96 |
Parties | Robert STOCKWELL, aka Robert Cozad, Appellant (Plaintiff), v. PARKER DRILLING CO., INC., a Delaware corporation, Appellee (Defendant), Larson Construction Co., Inc., a Wyoming corporation (Defendant). |
Court | Wyoming Supreme Court |
Robert C. Wilson, Casper, for appellant.
Cameron S. Walker of Schwartz, Bon, McCrary & Walker, Casper, for appellee.
Before BROWN, C.J., and THOMAS, CARDINE, URBIGKIT and MACY, JJ.
This appeal is from a summary judgment for the owner, Parker Drilling Company, Inc. (Parker), who was sued by appellant, Robert Stockwell, a/k/a Robert Cozad (Stockwell), for injuries he suffered while employed by an independent contractor, MATO, Inc.
We affirm.
On June 29, 1979, Parker entered into a general construction agreement with Larson Construction Company, Inc. (Larson) in which Larson agreed to construct two buildings on Parker's land. The buildings were to be attached and housed under a common roof. Thereafter Larson hired MATO, Inc. (MATO), a subcontractor, to install insulation in the buildings. Appellant Stockwell was an employee of MATO and worked at the Parker building construction site.
On October 24, 1979, Larson employees and MATO employees, including Stockwell, installed the roof insulation and attached the roof panels. After the last roof panel was attached by the crew, Stockwell proceeded toward the edge of the building to trim off excess insulation; the roof panel buckled, and Stockwell was thrown to the ground and sustained serious injury.
Appellant Stockwell filed a complaint in the district court naming as defendants Parker, the owner, and Larson, the general contractor. MATO, appellant Stockwell's employer, was not sued due to the immunity afforded by the applicable worker's compensation statute, § 27-12-103, W.S.1977. Parker moved for summary judgment. Based upon the affidavits, depositions, interrogatories and other materials before it, the court found that Parker owed the appellant Stockwell no duty of reasonable care and entered summary judgment in favor of Parker. The court, in its decision letter of February 5, 1986, set forth the rationale for its decision as follows:
Appellant Stockwell raises the following issue on appeal:
Appellee Parker states the issue as follows:
"Did the District Court below err in determining that appellee was entitled to a summary judgment; or * * * do employees of an independent contractor or subcontractor fall within the meaning of 'others' as used in Section 413 of the Restatement of Torts 2d?"
Our oft-recited standard of review on appeal from summary judgment is:
(Citations omitted.) Noonan v. Texaco, Inc., Wyo., 713 P.2d 160, 162 (1986). See also Jones v. Chevron U.S.A., Inc., Wyo., 718 P.2d 890, 893 (1986).
The parties agree that appellant Stockwell was an employee of an independent contractor hired by the general contractor, Larson. There is no claim that the owner is not covered by the Restatement because Larson, not the owner, employed the subcontractor who was an independent contractor. The owner did employ Larson who apparently had authority to employ subcontractors and do what was necessary to complete the job. The parties thought that sufficient, and we agree. Appellant claims, nonetheless, that as the employee of the independent contractor on this job he is the "other" to whom appellee owes a duty of care under §§ 413 and 416 of the Restatement, Second, Torts. Each of these sections speaks to a duty to "others":
Section 413, Restatement, Second, Torts:
Section 416, Restatement, Second, Torts:
"One who employs an independent contractor to do work which the employer should recognize as likely to create during its progress a peculiar risk of physical harm to others unless special precautions are taken, is subject to liability for physical harm caused to them by the failure of the contractor to exercise reasonable care to take such precautions, even though the employer has provided for such precautions in the contract or otherwise." (Emphasis added.)
This court has already held that the employee of an independent contractor is not the "other" to whom an owner owes a duty of care under § 416. Jones v. Chevron U.S.A., Inc., supra, 718 P.2d 890, 899, 901. We explained the reasoning behind that decision:
The same logic and reasoning applies to § 413, and we agree that § 413 also does not apply to the employee of an independent contractor. Mason v. Arizona Public Service Company, 127 Ariz. 546, 622 P.2d 493, 498 (1980); Jones v. New York Blower Company, Ind.App., 442 N.E.2d 382, 386, 34 A.L.R.4th 904 (1982); Conover v. Northern States Power Company, Minn., 313 N.W.2d 397, 407 (1981); Donch v. Delta Inspection Services, Inc., 165...
To continue reading
Request your trial-
Toland v. Sunland Housing Group, Inc.
...P.2d 343, 347 [no liability to independent contractor's employee under either section 416 or section 413]; Stockwell v. Parker Drilling Co. Inc. (Wyo.1987) 733 P.2d 1029, 1031-1032 Against this considerable weight of authority, the concurring and dissenting opinion proposes that employees o......
-
Monk v. Virgin Islands Water & Power Authority, 94-7372
...429-31 (1981) (en banc); Wagner v. Continental Casualty Co., 143 Wis.2d 379, 421 N.W.2d 835, 841, 844 (1988); Stockwell v. Parker Drilling Co., 733 P.2d 1029, 1032 (Wyo.1987) (citing Jones v. Chevron U.S.A., Inc., 718 P.2d 890 (Wyo.1986)); cf. Rowley v. Mayor of Baltimore, 305 Md. 456, 505 ......
-
Herrell v. Nat'l Beef Packing Co. Llc, 99,451.
...Epperly v. Seattle, 65 Wash.2d 777, 399 P.2d 591 [1965]; Potter v. Kenosha, 268 Wis. 361, 68 N.W.2d 4 [1955]; Stockwell v. Parker Drilling Co., Inc., 733 P.2d 1029 [Wyo.1987] ). The Dillard opinion acknowledged contrary rulings from one federal circuit and five other states but characterize......
-
Dillard v. Strecker
...upon by the Archbishop are Tauscher v. Puget Sound Power & Light Co., 96 Wash.2d 274, 635 P.2d 426 (1981), and Stockwell v. Parker Drilling Co., Inc., 733 P.2d 1029 (Wyo.1987). In Tauscher, the plaintiff, decedent's mother, brought a wrongful death action against Puget Sound Power alleging ......