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Roland v. Liberty Northwest Insurance Corp.2/8/2002
FINDINGS OF FACT, CONCLUSIONS OF LAW AND JUDGMENT
Summary: Claimant was one of several employees of a construction company crew working on building a house for the company's owner. The company owner gave permission to an adjacent property owner to use his crew, including claimant, to build a garage during times their services were not needed on his own house. The garage work was supervised, directed, and controlled by one of the construction company's supervisors. Claimant was injured while working on preparing the garage site for construction.
Held: Claimant was a loaned employee and his entitlement to compensation is governed by section 39-71-117(3), MCA (1999). Since the construction company controlled his work on the garage and had workers' compensation coverage for its crew, its insurer is liable for claimant's injury.
Topics:
Employers: Identifying. Where an insured employer loans its employees to another but retains control over its employees work while working for the other, its insurer is liable for work-related injuries occurring during the work. ยง 39-71-117(3), MCA (1999).
Constitutions, Statutes, Regulations and Rules: Montana Code Annotated: section 39-71-117(3), MCA (1999). Under section 39-71-117(3), MCA (1999), where an insured employer loans its employees to another but retains control over its employees work while working for the other, its insurer is liable for work-related injuries occurring during the work
The trial in this matter was held on June 20, 2001, in Missoula, Montana. Petitioner, Steve Roland (claimant), was present and represented by Mr. Dustin L. Gahagan. Respondent, Liberty Northwest Insurance Corporation (Liberty), was represented by Mr. Larry W. Jones. At the end of trial, the Court granted the parties leave to take the post-trial deposition of Darrell Twite. That deposition was taken on July 3, 2001. A transcript of the deposition was received by the Court on July 5, 2001, and the case was deemed submitted on that date.
Exhibits: Exhibits 1 and 2 were admitted without objection. Exhibit 3 was admitted for demonstrative purposes only.
Witnesses and Depositions: Claimant, Ray Twite, Donald Davidson, and Dorothy Davidson were sworn and testified. The depositions of claimant and Darrell Twite were received by the Court and have been considered.
Issues Presented: The issues as set forth in the Final Pretrial Order are:
Is Petitioner entitled to acceptance of liability for his claim.
Having considered the Final Pretrial Order, the testimony presented at trial, the demeanor and credibility of the witnesses, the depositions and exhibits, and the arguments of the parties, the Court makes the following:
FINDINGS OF FACT
Ray Twite (Ray) is the principal owner of RP Twite Construction, a Missoula based construction company. At the time of the accident at issue in this case, RP Twite was insured by Liberty. Liberty has denied liability for claimant's industrial accident on the ground that he was not injured during the course and scope of his employment for RP Twite Construction.
Darrell Twite (Darrell) is Ray's brother.
Don and Dottie Davidson (Don and Dottie or "the Davidsons") live on the West Fork of the Bitterroot River across the road from property owned by Ray Twite. On July 12, 1999, a tree on their property fell. After talking to Darrell, they hired Steve Roland (Steve) to cut up and remove the tree. In addition, they employed Steve and Darrell to patch up damaged siding and roofing on their house. The Davidsons paid Steve directly by personal check for his
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