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MEADE v. RIES2/27/2002
[642 NW2d Page 239]
Patrick Meade appeals from a summary judgment ruling in favor of the defendant, Edward Ries, dismissing Meade's negligence suit to recover for injuries he sustained when a tire owned by Ries exploded. At the time, Meade and Ries were coemployees. The injury occurred on the employer's premises when Ries, who was not on duty at the time, was working on the tire for his personal benefit. The tire exploded when Ries was called away from the tire to help another coemployee with a work-related task. The question we must decide is whether the Iowa Code section 85.20(2) (1997) coemployee immunity applies. The district court concluded the immunity did apply. We disagree and reverse and remand for further proceedings.
I. Background Facts and Proceedings.
The incident underlying this action happened on April 18, 1998, at Swiss Valley Ag Farms, Co. (Swiss Valley) in Hopkinton, Iowa. At the time of the incident, Meade and Ries were both employees of Swiss Valley. The company sold agricultural supplies and services. It also maintained a shop and employed a maintenance staff to care for its equipment and facilities.
Ries worked for Swiss Valley as a semi driver, delivering grain, anhydrous ammonia, liquid fertilizer, and other products. Meade was a mechanic and worked in Swiss Valley's maintenance shop.
On the day in question, Ries was not scheduled to work. That morning, he brought a tire off of his manure spreader to the Swiss Valley maintenance shop to repair it. Ries determined the tire was leaking air between the bead and rim. He deflated the tire completely and cleaned the rim. After cleaning the rim, Ries took the tire to a tire cage in the shop and used an inflator ring to make the tire bead seal to the rim. He did not put the tire inside the tire cage. After using the inflator ring, Ries attached an air hose and chuck to the tire to finish inflating it.
Jason Miles, a Swiss Valley mechanic, was working in the shop on the morning in question. At the time of the incident, Miles was working on the brakes of a semi driven regularly by Ries in the course of his employment at Swiss Valley.
At some point during his repair work, Miles needed someone to push down the brake pedal on the semi. He asked Ries, who was standing nearby, to perform this task. The request came within a minute after Ries had attached the air hose to his tire. Ries obliged, and Miles determined the brakes were working properly. Ries exited the cab of the semi, came around to the front of the semi, and stood by Miles. Miles explained to Ries what the problem had been and what he had done to repair the brakes. During this conversation, Miles saw Meade enter the shop area and go to Miles's toolbox to retrieve a tool.
A minute or less after Miles saw Meade, and while Miles and Ries were talking, Ries's tire exploded and struck Meade. Ries and Miles heard Meade screaming that he was hurt, and Ries yelled for someone to call 911. At the time of the incident, Meade was performing regularly scheduled tasks during normal work hours in the area where the incident occurred.
Ries estimated he was in the semi a couple of minutes, and his conversation with Miles lasted about a minute. Miles estimated two minutes had passed between the time he asked Ries to help him and the time of the explosion. He estimated a little less than ninety seconds had passed [642 NW2d Page 241]
between the time he told Ries everything was working and the time of the explosion. Sometime after the incident, Ries told Miles the accident had occurred because he had forgotten he was putting air in his tire.
At the time of the i
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