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10/14/2011

Notice: T h i s o p i n i o n i s s u b j e c t t o formal r e v i s i o n b e f o r e p u b l i c a t i o n i n t h e advance s h e e t s o f Southern R e p o r t e r . R e a d e r s a r e r e q u e s t e d t o n o t i f y t h e R e p o r t e r o f D e c i s i o n s , Alabama A p p e l l a t e C o u r t s , 300 D e x t e r A v e n u e , M o n t g o m e r y , A l a b a m a 3 6 1 0 4 - 3 7 4 1 ((334) 2 2 9 - 0 6 4 9 ) , o f a n y t y p o g r a p h i c a l o r o t h e r e r r o r s , i n o r d e r t h a t c o r r e c t i o n s may b e made b e f o r e t h e o p i n i o n i s p r i n t e d i n Southern R e p o r t e r .

ALABAMA COURT OF CIVIL
OCTOBER TERM, 2011-2012

APPEALS

2100815

Casey E. Lewis v. Alabama Power Company Appeal from Mobile C i r c u i t (CV-08-900340) THOMPSON, P r e s i d i n g J u d g e . C a s e y E. L e w i s a p p e a l s the Mobile Circuit Court f r o m a summary j u d g m e n t e n t e r e d b y i n favor o f A l a b a m a Power Company Court

("APCo") on c l a i m s o f n e g l i g e n c e an accident Lewis

and wantonness a r i s i n g o u t o f working a t an APCo plant.

suffered while

2100815 For the reasons s t a t e d h e r e i n , we reverse that judgment and

remand t h e The

cause f o r f u r t h e r p r o c e e d i n g s . i n opposition i n the & Cas. light Ins. to

e v i d e n c e s u b m i t t e d i n s u p p o r t o f and

APCo's summary-judgment m o t i o n , c o n s i d e r e d favorable DPF the to Lewis, see 792 Nationwide Prop. So. 2d 369, 372

most v.

Co.

A r c h i t e c t s , P.C.,

( A l a . 2000),

reveals At

following pertinent

facts.

Lewis i s a boilermaker.

t h e t i m e o f h i s i n j u r i e s made t h e b a s i s o f t h e p r e s e n t a c t i o n , he was e m p l o y e d by F l u o r M a i n t e n a n c e S e r v i c e s , I n c . Steam P l a n t i n M o b i l e C o u n t y was e m p l o y e d by to a ("the ("Fluor"), plant"). working at

a t APCo's B a r r y A l t h o u g h he the plant

F l u o r , L e w i s was ("the

pursuant

contract

labor

broker Inc. was
1

a g r e e m e n t " ) b e t w e e n F l u o r and ("SCS"). performing

S o u t h e r n Company S e r v i c e s ,

A l t h o u g h i t i s a s e p a r a t e e n t i t y f r o m APCo, SCS construction services for APCo at the

plant.

An a f f i d a v i t s u b m i t t e d by APCo i n s u p p o r t o f i t s summaryj u d g m e n t m o t i o n d e s c r i b e d SCS as f o l l o w s :
1

" [ S C S ] i s a ' c e n t r a l i z e d s e r v i c e company' o f The S o u t h e r n Company ... that provides a v a r i e t y of s e r v i c e s t o o t h e r S o u t h e r n Company s u b s i d i a r i e s , i n c l u d i n g [ A P C o ] , a t c o s t and upon r e q u e s t . Such services include accounting, engineering, marketing, data processing, contract administration, human r e s o u r c e s , i n s u r a n c e and o t h e r s e r v i c e s w i t h r e s p e c t t o t h e i r b u s i n e s s and o p e r a t i o n s . I n so d o i n g , SCS 2

2100815 Pursuant to the to SCS l a b o r b r o k e r a g r e e m e n t , F l u o r was craft labor, foremen, and to provide

temporary

additional the

p e r s o n n e l f o r the performance of c o n s t r u c t i o n s e r v i c e s at p l a n t , f o r w h i c h SCS rate. The was t o pay F l u o r on a p e r - p e r s o n , that " [ a ] l l

hourly work and

labor broker

agreement p r o v i d e d

and a c t i v i t i e s o f t h e c r a f t l a b o r , f o r e m e n and s u p e r v i s o r s o t h e r p e r s o n n e l o f [ F l u o r ] a t t h e P r o j e c t s h a l l be and s c h e d u l e d by [ S C S ]

coordinated direct

and s h a l l be p e r f o r m e d u n d e r t h e The

s u p e r v i s i o n and c o n t r o l o f [ S C S ] . "

l a b o r b r o k e r agreement for

r e q u i r e d F l u o r to procure w o r k e r s ' compensation insurance i t s employees a t i t s expense, but t h a t the c o s t of t h a t i n s u r a n c e SCS paid to Fluor f o r the the agreement a l s o

provided rate the into

w o u l d be

i n c l u d e d i n the labor. i t was Although entered

p r o v i s i o n of that

labor

broker

agreement SCS, SCS

recited

b e t w e e n F l u o r and as an

purported

to execute the

agreement

a g e n t f o r APCo. Lewis began w o r k i n g at the the plant plant, i n November 2007. he signed a At

the

outset

of

his

work a t

document

always acts as agent f o r the client corporate a f f i l i a t e , w h i c h i n t h i s c a s e was [ A P C o ] . With regard to [APCo]'s Barry Steam P l a n t i n B u c k s , Alabama, the scope of t h i s r e l a t i o n s h i p i n c l u d e d construction services for [APCo]." 3

2100815 titled ("the other "Project Security Rules f o r Labor Broker Employees" among

p r o j e c t - r u l e s document"). things:

T h a t document s t a t e d ,

" I have r e c e i v e d a n d r e a d a c o p y o f t h e S o u t h e r n Company S e r v i c e s P r o j e c t S e c u r i t y R u l e s f o r L a b o r B r o k e r Employees, and I u n d e r s t a n d t h a t a v i o l a t i o n o f t h e s e r u l e s may be f o l l o w e d b y d i s c i p l i n a r y a c t i o n o r d i s m i s s a l b y my e m p l o y e r (Fluor). I f u r t h e r u n d e r s t a n d t h a t v i o l a t o r s o f t h e s e r u l e s may be removed f r o m t h e p r o j e c t a n d / o r p r o p e r t y a n d S o u t h e r n Company S e r v i c e s may r e f u s e t o r e a d m i t them for extended periods of time. " I f u r t h e r u n d e r s t a n d and acknowledge t h a t w h i l e my wages, h o u r s , a n d o t h e r t e r m s a n d c o n d i t i o n s o f employment a r e s e t b y my g e n e r a l e m p l o y e r , F l u o r , and my u n i o n , i f any, t h a t my g e n e r a l employer s e r v e s o n l y as a l a b o r b r o k e r f o r S o u t h e r n Company S e r v i c e s a t t h i s p r o j e c t a n d t h a t my work w i l l be subject to the d i r e c t i o n , control, and t h e s u p e r v i s i o n o f b o t h S o u t h e r n Company S e r v i c e s a n d my g e n e r a l e m p l o y e r w h i l e w o r k i n g on t h i s p r o j e c t . I f u l l y u n d e r s t a n d t h i s a n d h e r e b y g i v e my e x p r e s s c o n s e n t t o t h i s w o r k i n g r e l a t i o n s h i p w h i l e I am employed a t t h i s p r o j e c t . " Lewis signed In t h i s document on November 13, 2007. Lewis stated that a Fluor employee

h i s deposition,

c o n d u c t e d h i s o r i e n t a t i o n f o r t h e p r o j e c t and t h a t h i s foreman a t t h e p r o j e c t was a l s o a F l u o r e m p l o y e e . worked the n i g h t his shifts, He s t a t e d t h a t he o f each o f

s h i f t and t h a t , a t t h e b e g i n n i n g

h i s f o r e m a n c o n d u c t e d a s a f e t y m e e t i n g a n d gave i n s t r u c t i o n s f o r the night. 4 Regarding the

Lewis

h i s work

2100815 involvement of SCS o r APCo i n t h e work that was being

p e r f o r m e d , L e w i s t e s t i f i e d as f o l l o w s : "Q. [By c o u n s e l f o r APCo:] Now d i d y o u s e e t h e S o u t h e r n Company S e r v i c e s , A l a b a m a Power Company p e o p l e t h e r e on t h a t n i g h t s h i f t ? "A. Wendell, think what they c o o r d i n a t o r , he was up t h e r e t a l k i n g and d i f f e r e n t f o r e m e n a n d s t u f f . "Q. "A. Wendell? I b e l i e v e t h a t was h i s name. D i d he h a v e one o f t h o s e w h i t e hard called the w i t h Lou Lou

"Q. Wendell. h a t s on? "A. "Q. "A. "Q. "A.

Yes, s i r . W i t h t h e Power Company l o g o on i t ? Yes, s i r . A n d he was t a l k i n g t o who now? The f o r e m e n , L o u L o u , t h e c o o r d i n a t o r .

"Q. A n d what a b o u t Mr. S t o k e s [, a F l u o r e m p l o y e e ] , was he i n on some o f t h e s e c o n f e r e n c e s o r m e e t i n g s ? "A. "Q. I don't know i f t h e y were meetings.

J u s t t a l k i n g a b o u t w h a t ' s g o i n g t o be d o n e ? what they talked about. I

"A. I guess t h a t ' s r e a l l y d o n ' t know.

5

2100815 "Q. G e n e r a l l y when y o u w o u l d s e e them t a l k i n g t o g e t h e r , w o u l d y o u r i g h t a f t e r t h a t g e t y o u r work instructions f o r that s h i f t ? "A. The No." exchange also occurred during Lewis's

following

deposition: "Q. [By c o u n s e l f o r APCo:] D i d y o u s e e -- now y o u know what S o u t h e r n Company S e r v i c e s i s , y o u know who that i s ? "A. A l a b a m a Power. Power

"Q. S o u t h e r n Company S e r v i c e s a n d A l a b a m a mean one [and] t h e same t h i n g t o y o u ? "A. To me t h e y a r e , y e s . "

On J a n u a r y 3 1 , 2008, L e w i s was i n j u r e d w h i l e w o r k i n g a t the plant. He was d e t a c h i n g a l a r g e steel plate from some

ductwork. that,

The s t e e l p l a t e was a t t a c h e d t o two " a i r t u g g e r s " would lift or lower the s t e e l plate

when a c t i v a t e d ,

d e p e n d i n g on w h i c h o f two h a n d l e s was p u l l e d . the plate from t h e ductwork,

A f t e r Lewis c u t the plate

he a t t e m p t e d t o l i f t

with the a i rtuggers. onto the s t e e l plate

When t h e p l a t e d i d n o t move, he s t e p p e d t o determine why the plate was n o t on t h e

detaching

from t h e ductwork.

W h i l e he was s t a n d i n g

p l a t e , i t became d i s l o d g e d a n d he a n d t h e p l a t e were p r o p e l l e d into the a i r , causing i n j u r i e s 6 t o Lewis, i n c l u d i n g fractures

2100815 in h i s scapula and h i s f o r e a r m and b u r n s and c u t s on h i s b a c k . He d i d not

Lewis r e c e i v e d medical treatment f o r h i s i n j u r i e s . r e t u r n t o work a t t h e On M a r c h 6, plant.

2008, L e w i s f i l e d an Inc.

action against and that The he

Fluor,

2

Tool-Smith Company.

Company, In his the

("Tool-Smith"), he alleged

Southern had been He was the

complaint,

injured during asserted injured

c o u r s e o f h i s employment w i t h F l u o r . a i r t u g g e r he was i n the using at the t i m e he causing

t h a t the had

become s t u c k

"on"

position, causing

s t e e l p l a t e t o be Lewis a l l e g e d t h a t repaired, Company. or He

p r o p e l l e d u p w a r d and the a i r t u g g e r had by

his

injuries. provided, Southern

b e e n owned, and The

maintained

Tool-Smith

sought b e n e f i t s p u r s u a n t t o the Alabama W o r k e r s ' Act,

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