Sykes v. Williams

• Court: Arkansas Supreme Court
• Writing for the Court: Annabelle Clinton Imber
• Citation: Sykes v. Williams, 373 Ark. 236, 283 S.W.3d 209 (Ark. 2008)
• Decision Date: 17 April 2008
• Docket Number: No. 07-918.,07-918.
• Parties: David SYKES, Appellant, v. Jack WILLIAMS, First Coast Intermodal Services, Inc., and Baxter Healthcare Corp., Appellees.

283 S.W.3d 209

373 Ark. 236

David SYKES, Appellant, v. Jack WILLIAMS, First Coast Intermodal Services, Inc., and Baxter Healthcare Corp., Appellees.

No. 07-918.

Supreme Court of Arkansas.

April 17, 2008.

Stricker Law Firm, PLLC, by: R. Theodor Stricker, Jonesboro, AR, for appellant.

Barber, McCaskill, Jones, & Hale, P.A., by: William H. Edward, Jr. and Michael Lee Wright, Little Rock, AR, for appellees Jack Williams and First Coast Intermodal Services, Inc.

Bill Bristow, Jonesboro, AR, and Frank Holbrook (pro hac vice), for appellee Baxter Healthcare Corporation.

ANNABELLE CLINTON IMBER, Justice.

Appellant David Sykes appeals the Craighead County Circuit Court's grant of summary judgment in favor of Appellees Jack Williams, First Coast Intermodal Services, Inc. ("First Coast"), and Baxter Healthcare Corporation ("Baxter"). In support of his three points on appeal, Sykes makes the following arguments: 1) He is not required to demonstrate that Appellees were negligent in order to proceed in his circuit-court action against them; 2) His burden of proof is met by the fact that Appellees failed to carry workers' compensation insurance; 3) Baxter is a prime contractor for purposes of Arkansas Code Annotated section 11-9-402(a) (Supp. 2007), making it liable for compensation to Sykes. Our jurisdiction is pursuant to Arkansas Supreme Court Rule 1-2(b)(1) & (6) (2007), as this appeal presents an issue of first impression and a question concerning interpretation of a statute. We find no error and affirm.

The facts are not in dispute. Sykes was employed as a truck driver for Williams. Williams acted as a freight lessor for First Coast, which was a freight carrier for Baxter, a healthcare company marketing medical devices and pharmaceuticals. Sykes regularly drove a route from Memphis, Tennessee, to Jacksonville, Florida, in a truck owned by Williams. In October of 2002, he hauled a trailer from Memphis to a Baxter facility in Cleveland, Mississippi, where he was to drop off the trailer and pick up another one to be delivered to Jacksonville. While at the Baxter facility in Cleveland, Sykes sustained an injury to his back as he was disconnecting the trailer from the truck.

Sykes filed a claim with the Arkansas Workers' Compensation Commission. He was later informed by the Commission that Williams did not have a policy of workers' compensation insurance and was not an authorized self-insured employer. The Commission notified Sykes of his right to pursue a claim in tort pursuant to Arkansas Code Annotated section 11-9-105(b) (Repl.2002). Sykes filed a complaint in Craighead County Circuit Court against Williams, First Coast, and Baxter. He alleged that Williams was negligent in failing to provide him a safe workplace and in failing to secure workers' compensation insurance. Sykes contended that First Coast and Baxter were prime contractors and statutory employers and were negligent in failing to provide him a safe workplace and in failing to secure workers' compensation insurance or to ascertain that it was provided by another defendant. Additionally, Sykes alleged that First Coast was negligent in hiring Williams and that Baxter was negligent in hiring First Coast. Sykes sought recovery in the amount of 1.6 million dollars.

Williams, First Coast, and Baxter filed motions for summary judgment. They argued that, by virtue of Sykes's election to pursue a fault-based claim in tort rather than recovery under workers' compensation law, Sykes was required to prove negligence on their part, which he could not do. Williams, First Coast, and Baxter pointed to Sykes's deposition, wherein he stated that he was not aware of any wrongdoing that contributed to his injury. Sykes responded to the motions by arguing that an employer sued in tort pursuant to Arkansas Code Annotated section 11-9-105(b) is subject to strict liability. Alternatively, he alleged that he had established negligence by showing that Appellees violated statutory law in failing to secure workers' compensation insurance. The circuit court rejected Sykes's arguments and granted the motions for summary judgment, and Sykes filed a timely notice of appeal.

The standard of review used by this court in reviewing a grant of summary judgment is well settled. Summary judgment is to be granted by a trial court only when it is clear that there are no genuine issues of material fact to be litigated and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Benton County v. Overland Dev. Co., Inc., 371 Ark. 559, 268 S.W.3d 885 (2007). Once a moving party has established a prima facie entitlement to summary judgment, the opposing party must meet proof with proof and demonstrate the existence of a material issue of fact. Id. After reviewing undisputed facts, summary judgment should be denied if, under the evidence, reasonable minds might reach different conclusions from those undisputed facts. Id. On appeal, we determine if summary judgment was appropriate based on whether the evidentiary items presented by the moving party in support of its motion leave a material question of fact unanswered. Id. This court views the evidence in a light most favorable to the party against whom the motion was filed, resolving all doubts and inferences against the moving party. Id. Our review is not limited to the pleadings, as we also focus on the affidavits and other documents filed by the parties. Id.

We review issues of statutory construction de novo. Ryan & Co. AR, Inc. v. Weiss, 371 Ark. 43, 263 S.W.3d 489 (2007). It is for this court to decide what a statute means, and we are not bound by the circuit court's interpretation. Id. The basic rule of statutory construction is to give effect to the intent of the General Assembly. Id. In determining the meaning of a statute, the first rule is to construe it just as it reads, giving the words their ordinary and usually accepted meaning in common language. Id. Our court construes the statute so that no word is left void, superfluous, or insignificant, and meaning and effect are given to every word in the statute if possible. Id. When the language of a statute is plain and unambiguous and conveys a clear and definite meaning, there is no need to resort to the rules of statutory construction. Id. However, we will not give statutes a literal interpretation if it leads to absurd consequences that are contrary to legislative intent. Id. We will accept a circuit court's interpretation of the law unless it is shown that the court's interpretation was in error. Id. Our court seeks to reconcile statutory provisions to make them consistent, harmonious, and sensible. Id.

I. Negligence Under Arkansas Code Annotated Section 11-9-105(b)

For his first point on appeal, Sykes contends that the circuit court committed reversible error by requiring a showing of negligence. He argues that Arkansas Code Annotated section 11-9-105(b), the exclusive-remedy provision that also permits suits in tort against employers who fail to pay compensation, is intended to serve as a penalty for those employers who do not maintain workers' compensation insurance for their employees. Thus, Sykes contends, it follows that employers sued under this provision are stripped of all defenses and subject to strict liability.

The statute at issue reads as follows:

(b)(1) However, if an employer fails to secure the payment of compensation as required by this chapter, an injured employee, or his or her legal representative in case death results from the injury, may, at his option, elect to claim compensation under this chapter or to maintain a legal action in court for damages on account of the injury or death.

(b)(2) In such action it shall not be necessary to plead or prove freedom from contributory negligence, nor may the defendant-employer plead as a defense that the injury was caused by the negligence of a fellow servant, that the employee assumed the risk of his or her employment, or that the injury was due to the contributory negligence of the employee.

Ark.Code Ann. § 11-9-105 (Repl.2002). Provisions of workers' compensation law are to be strictly construed. Id. § 11-9-704(c)(3); Hapney v. Rheem Mfg. Co., 341 Ark. 548, 26 S.W.3d 771 (2000). Strict construction is narrow construction and requires that nothing be taken as intended that is not clearly expressed. Hapney v. Rheem Mfg. Co., supra. The doctrine of strict construction requires this court to use the plain meaning of the language employed. Id.

Under the plain meaning of Arkansas Code Annotated section 11-9-105(b), the no-fault theory of workers' compensation clearly does not carry over to suits filed in tort. The statute does not state that suits filed in tort are to be based on a theory of strict liability, and under our rules of strict construction, we must refrain from inferring legislative intent in the absence of clear expression. Hapney v. Rheem Mfg. Co., supra. When the words of the statute are given their ordinary and usually accepted meaning, the phrase "legal action in court" indicates a tort suit. To establish a prima facie case of negligence in such a suit, a plaintiff must show that he or she sustained damages, that the defendant was negligent, and that the defendant's negligence was a proximate cause of the damages. Morehart v. Dillard Dep't Stores, 322 Ark. 290, 908 S.W.2d 331 (1995). Therefore, to maintain a suit in tort contemplated by Arkansas Code Annotated section 11-9-105(b), a plaintiff must prove negligence on the part of the defendant.

Furthermore, subsection (b)(2) excepts three common-law defenses from those generally available to defendants in tort actions. The defendant-employer, in a suit brought pursuant to Arkansas Code Annotated section 11-9-105(b), is precluded from asserting fellow-servant negligence, assumption of the risk, and contributory negligence. Ark.Code Ann. § 11-9-105(b)(2). If the legislature had intended that liability under Arkansas Code Annotated section...