U.S. Steel Corp. v. Mathews

• Decision Date: 13 May 1954
• Docket Number: 6 Div. 616
• Citation: 73 So.2d 239,261 Ala. 120
• Parties: UNITED STATES STEEL CORP. v. MATHEWS.
• Court: Alabama Supreme Court

Page 239

73 So.2d 239

261 Ala. 120

UNITED STATES STEEL CORP. v. MATHEWS.

6 Div. 616.

Supreme Court of Alabama.

May 13, 1954.

Rehearing Denied June 17, 1954.

Burr, McKamy, Moore & Tate and Wm. Henry Beatty, Birmingham, for appellant.

Bryan Chancey and McDonald & Moon, Birmingham, for appellee.

SIMPSON, Justice.

Plaintiff, appellee here, brought suit against defendant claiming damages for personal injuries. The suit was based upon the alleged negligence of defendant's employees in the operation of an overhead crane in such a manner as to cause an explosion of molten metal or slag, particles of which set fire to plaintiff's clothing. At the conclusion of the testimony, the defendant requested the affirmative charge and made a motion in writing to transfer the cause to the Workmen's Compensation docket of the Circuit Court on the ground that at the time plaintiff sustained the injuries he was an employee of defendant. The trial court refused to give the requested charge and overruled the motion. The jury returned a verdict in favor of the plaintiff and from the judgment entered thereon the defendant has appealed, assigning as error the aforementioned action of the trial court.

The single issue to be determined by this court is whether or not the plaintiff was an employee of the defendant at the time of the accident. In so doing, we must review the tendencies of the evidence most favorable to plaintiff, allowing such reasonable inferences as the jury was free to draw. Duke v. Gaines, 224 Ala. 519, 140 So. 600.

The plaintiff's evidence tended to show that on February 1, 1951, the plaintiff began working at the Soil Conditioner Plant of Tennessee Coal, Iron & Railroad Company, hereinafter called T. C. I. (now U. S. Steel Corporation). The plaintiff, working as foreman of a crew of six men, was employed by Virginia Bridge Company, a distinct and separate legal entity from T. C. I. The work being done by the employees of the Virginia Bridge Company at the Soil Conditioner Plant was done under the general authority of an agreement between Virginia Bridge Company, an independent contractor, and T. C. I. whereby the Virginia Company was to 'furnish labor, tools, and equipment to replace, repair and paint steel work at Soil Plant.'

Plaintiff testified that his immediate supervisor was one Peifer of the Virginia Company, who instructed the plaintiff to take over the job as foreman and to work with the supervision and operation. The plaintiff was further instructed to report to and work with Vance and Parker (employees of T. C. I.), i. e., they were to work together, to each other's advantage. While working at the defendant's plant, plaintiff and his crew did not report for work to the Virginia Company at the beginning of each day's work, nor did they report to the Virginia Company at the end of each day's work. But the plaintiff turned in time reports each day to Virginia Company by means of the timekeeper for Virginia Company coming out to the Soil Conditioner Plant daily and picking up said time sheets turned in by the plaintiff for himself and the other employees of Virginia Company under his charge. The plaintiff and the other members of his crew were paid by Virginia Company--the checks being brought by said company to them. Plaintiff testified that this procedure, i. e., method of timekeeping and payment, was done on all jobs. One Reid, employee of Virginia Bridge Company and a member of the sixman crew over which plaintiff was foreman, testified that 'after the explosion (in which plaintiff was injured) happened I called the home office, called our superintendent at the Virginia Bridge office in N. Birmingham, and told him what had happened * * *.' The superintendent at Virginia Bridge told him which hospital to take the plaintiff to and arranged to meet them there.

Mr. Vance, construction engineer for T. C. I., gave plaintiff instructions about the work and stopped to observe the work approximately every other day. The actual work was done by the Virginia Company's crewmen under plaintiff's supervision, the plaintiff following drawings and plans that Vance turned over to him, which were prepared by T. C. I. The only testimony offered by either plaintiff or defendant with regard to who had the authority to discharge was the following statement by plaintiff: 'As far as Mr. Vance (employee of T. C. I.) coming out and laying a man off, I don't think he could do it.'

Mr. Vance testified that from time to time he had conversation with the plaintiff with regard to what was to be done, that he told the plaintiff the work that was to be done and looked to him for the result. He also testified that he inspected the result of the work and looked after it while it was in progress although he did not 'pin him (plaintiff) down to the methods he would use' because he knew the plaintiff was experienced. The tools and equipment used by the plaintiff were not the property of T. C. I. There was nothing in the agreement between T. C. I. and the Virginia Bridge Company with reference to the right of control.

It is contended by the appellant that the evidence shows conclusively, without the least adverse inference, that the appellee was under the 'loaned servant' doctrine, an employee of T. C. I. at the time of the accident and such issue should not have been submitted to the jury. It has been said that 'whether one who is usually and normally the servant of one master has become specially and temporarily the servant of another * * * is ordinarily a question of fact. If under the circumstances only one inference can properly be drawn, the court will determine it, but if reasonable men may fairly come to different conclusions respecting the inference to be drawn from the fact, the case will be one for the jury.' 2 Mechem on Agency 1447, § 1864.

It is a well-recognized fact that one may be in the service of a general master and nevertheless with respect to particular work may be transferred to the service of another in such a way that he becomes for the time being the servant of the special master. Martin v. Anniston Foundry Co., 259 Ala. 633, 68 So.2d 323, and authorities there cited. In such a case, the result will be determined by the answer to the questions: whose work was the servant doing and under whose control was he doing it? Williams v. Central of Georgia Ry. Co., 220 Ala. 298, 124 So. 878. And it is the reserved right of control rather than its actual exercise that furnished the true test of relationship. Tuscaloosa Veneer Co. v. Martin, 233 Ala. 567, 172 So. 608; Moore-Handley Hardware Co. v. Williams, 238 Ala. 189, 189 So. 757. He is master who has the supreme choice, control and direction of the servant and whose will the servant represents in the ultimate result and in all its details. Birmingham Post Co. v. Sturgeon, 227 Ala. 162, 149 So. 74.

The question naturally arises as to what is meant by 'control'. It is said that there must be careful distinguishing 'between authoritative direction and control, and mere suggestion as to details or the necessary cooperation, where the work furnished is part of a large undertaking.' Standard Oil Co. v. Anderson, 212 U.S. 215, 29 S.Ct. 252, 254, 53 L.Ed. 480. And the fact that the borrower gives information and directions to the servant as to details of work or the manner of doing it does not make this general...