Zeringue v. O'Brien Transport, Inc.

• Decision Date: 11 April 2006
• Docket Number: No. 05-CA-760.,05-CA-760.
• Parties: Donna ZERINGUE Wife of/and Ray Zeringue v. O'BRIEN TRANSPORT, INC., et al.
• Court: Court of Appeal of Louisiana — District of US

931 So.2d 377

Donna ZERINGUE Wife of/and Ray Zeringue v. O'BRIEN TRANSPORT, INC., et al.

No. 05-CA-760.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Fifth Circuit.

April 11, 2006.

Erin P. Shea, Scott P. Shea, Metairie, Louisiana, for Plaintiff/Appellant.

George P. Hebbler, Jr., Pamela B. Gautier, Metairie, Louisiana, for Defendant/Appellee.

Steven M. Lozes, New Orleans, Louisiana, for Defendant/Appellee.

Panel composed of Judges THOMAS F. DALEY, SUSAN M. CHEHARDY, and FREDERICKA HOMBERG WICKER.

FREDERICKA HOMBERG WICKER, Judge.

Plaintiffs, Donna and Ray Zeringue, appeal a judgment that granted a defense motion for summary judgment. For reasons that follow, we affirm.

Plaintiff, Ray Zeringue, who is an employee of Quality Distribution, Inc. (Quality), was installing a satellite tracking system on a trailer attached to a hauling rig in the course and scope of his employment with Quality when he fell from the rig and was injured. He qualified for, and has received, workers' compensation benefits as a result of the accident.

Subsequently, Mr. Zeringue filed an action to recover damages against several defendants including O'Brien Transport, Inc. (O'Brien) owner of the trailer, and Jermaine Rouselle, d/b/a J.R. Trucking Company (Rouselle), the owner of the rig hauling the trailer. Henry Wolfe, an employee of Rouselle, whom plaintiff asserted was the driver of the truck at the time of the accident, was also named as a defendant.

Defendant, Rouselle, filed a motion for summary judgment in which he maintains that the plaintiffs' suit is barred by the exclusivity of the Louisiana Workers' Compensation Law. In support of the motion, Rouselle asserts that he entered into a contract with Quality prior to the accident in which Quality leased Mr. Rouselle's truck with an agreement that Mr. Rouselle would operate the truck for Quality. Therefore, Mr. Rouselle is the statutory employee of Quality, and a co-worker of plaintiff, a fact which precludes plaintiffs' tort suit against him. Attached to the motion is an "independent contractor agreement" between Quality and Rouselle.¹

In opposition to the motion, the plaintiffs concede that a valid contract existed between Quality and Rouselle. Further, plaintiffs admit that Quality is an authorized carrier, subjected to the provisions of 49 U.S.C. 13901 & 13902, 49 C.F.R. 376.2(a). However, plaintiffs argue the specific language of the lease agreement excludes Jermaine Rouselle from the classification of an employee of Quality by making him an independent contractor. Therefore, plaintiffs argue Mr. Rouselle and Mr. Zeringue are not co-workers.

After hearing on the matter, the trial court rendered judgment granting the defense motion for summary judgment, prompting this appeal. The transcript of the hearing shows that the trial court was persuaded by Rouselle's argument that the contract must be interpreted pursuant to controlling federal law.

A summary judgment is appropriate when there remains no genuine issue as to material fact and the mover is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. La. C.C.P. art. 966. Summary judgments are now favored in the law and the rules should be liberally applied. The summary judgment procedure shall be construed to accomplish the ends of just, speedy, and inexpensive determination of allowable actions. La. C.C.P. art. 966; Mitchell v. Dillard Dept. Stores, Inc., 00-328 (La.App. 5 Cir. 10/18/00), 772 So.2d 733. Appellate courts review summary judgments de novo under the same criteria that govern the trial court's determination of whether summary judgment is appropriate. Haley v. Roberts, 02-30 (La.App. 5 Cir. 5/29/02), 820 So.2d 1114, 1116. When the "dispositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue as to material fact and that the mover is entitled to judgment as a matter of law," the court must grant a motion for summary judgment. La.C.C.P. art. 966(B)

In the matter before us, the parties agree that a valid contract exists between Quality and Rouselle and that Quality is authorized carrier, subject to the provisions of 49 U.S.C. 13901 & 13902, 49 C.F.R. 376.2(a). It is also undisputed that leases between regulated carriers and owner-operators are subject to federal law. Turner v. Miller Transporters, Inc., 02-2278 (La.App. 1 Cir. 6/27/03), 852 So.2d 478, amended, 02-2278 (La. 1 Cir. 2/23/04), 876 So.2d 848, writ denied, 04-762 (La.5/21/04), 874 So.2d 174, writ denied, 04-804 (La.5/21/04), 874 So.2d 177.

Because the common practice of leasing equipment by a carrier operating in interstate commerce often led to abuses that presented a threat to the public and the trucking industry, Congress amended the Interstate Commerce Act, giving the ICC the power to regulate non-owned equipment by interstate carriers. 49 U.S.C.A. § 304(e)(1956). As explained in White v. Excalibur Insurance Co., (5th Cir.1979), 599 F.2d 50, certiorari denied, 444 U.S. 965, 100 S.Ct. 452, 62 L.Ed.2d 377 (1979).

Motor carriers had attempted to immunize themselves from the negligence of the drivers who operated their vehicles by making them all nominally "independent contractors." See generally Transamerican Freight Lines, Inc. v. Brada Miller Freight Systems, Inc., 1975, 423 U.S. 28, 96 S.Ct. 229, 46 L.Ed.2d 169; American Trucking Associations, Inc. v. United States, 1953, 344 U.S. 298, 73 S.Ct. 307, 97 L.Ed. 337; Alford v. Major, 7 Cir.1972, 470 F.2d 132. In order to be certain that the public would be protected from the torts of these frequently insolvent operators, Congress in 1956 adopted amendments to the Interstate Motor Common Carrier Act requiring a motor carrier to assume "full direction and control" of leased vehicles. Because the carrier now has both a legal right and duty to control vehicles operated for its benefit, the employees of the vehicle-lessor are deemed statutory employees of the lessee-carrier to the extent necessary to insure the carrier's responsibility for the public safety just as if the lessee-carrier were the owner of the vehicles. Simmons v. King, 5 Cir.1973, 478 F.2d 857, 867.

(Some citations and footnotes omitted)

Id. 599 F.2d at 52-53

49 C.F.R. § 376.12, which is applicable to the lease in question, provides in pertinent part:

(c) Exclusive possession and responsibilities.

(1) The lease shall provide that the authorized carrier lessee shall have exclusive possession, control, and use of the equipment for the duration of the lease. The lease shall further provide that the authorized carrier lessee shall assume complete responsibility for the operation of the equipment for the duration of the lease.

(2) Provision may be made in the lease for considering the authorized carrier lessee as the owner of the equipment for the purpose of subleasing it under these regulations to other authorized carriers during the lease.

The policy underlying the applicable federal law was to impose on lessee-carriers responsibility for the operation of leased vehicles. The lease between Rouselle and Quality reflects that policy. Clause 17 of the contract between the parties reads in pertinent part as follows;

CARRIER'S RESPONSIBILITIES

b.) Exclusive possession and Responsibility (49 CFR 376.12(c)): The Equipment shall be for CARRIER'S exclusive possession, control, and use for the duration of this Agreement. CARRIER shall assume completer responsibility for the operation of the Equipment, as required by the Federal Highway Administration. This subparagraph is set forth solely to conform with Federal Highway Administration regulations and shall not be used for any other purposes including any attempt to classify INDEPENDENT CONTRACTOR as an employee of CARRIER......

Because of the grant of the legal right and duty over leased vehicles to the carrier, the employees of the lessor/vehicle owners are deemed statutory employees of the lessee/carrier under federal law. White v. Excalibur Insurance Company, 599 F.2d 50, 52, and cases cited therein. As explained in White, 599 F.2d at 53;

The statutory employee status created by federal law may affect employer-employees relationships under otherwise controlling state statutes where direction and control of the worker by the federally regulated employer are central to the regulatory program.

Thus, under the general rule of federal law, Rouselle is a statutory employee of Quality.

However, that fact does not end our inquiry. The analysis of law in White and related cases involves factual situations quite different from the one in the matter before this Court. In White, the plaintiff was killed in a collision while...