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Cajun Concrete Services2/16/2001
In this case, an employer/subcontractor and the administrator of its workers' compensation self insurance filed suit against the contractor for whom the subcontractor was performing work. The plaintiffs sought recovery of medical and workers' compensation payments made to employees of the subcontractor who were allegedly injured on the job site. The trial court granted a motion for summary judgment filed by the contractor and dismissed the plaintiffs' suit.
FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND
On November 19, 1998, The Lemoine Company Incorporated (Lemoine) entered into a contract with Woman's Hospital of Baton Rouge (Woman's Hospital) for the construction of a parking garage expansion. On February 12, 1999, Lemoine entered into a subcontract with Cajun Concrete Services (Cajun) to perform a portion of the work required to complete the parking garage expansion. It is alleged that three of Cajun's employees were injured on June 2, 1999, while working at the Woman's Hospital job site. According to the petition, while these employees were performing concrete pumping, placing, and finishing on a parking garage deck beam assembled by Lemoine, the deck collapsed without warning and caused injuries to the employees.
On August 12, 1999, Cajun and the third party administrator of its workers' compensation self insurance fund, National Loss Control Management, Inc. (National), filed suit against Lemoine, seeking recovery for workers' compensation benefits and medical payments the plaintiffs had paid and were continuing to pay to the three injured employees. The plaintiffs alleged Lemoine was liable for the payments, because the accident that caused the Cajun employees' injuries was due to Lemoine's negligence.
On October 6, 1999, Lemoine filed a motion for summary judgment, claiming it was not liable to the plaintiffs for any payments they made to the injured employees. A hearing on the motion was held on December 13, 1999, and, on December 21, 1999, the trial court signed a judgment, granting Lemoine's motion for summary judgment and dismissing Lemoine from the case.
The plaintiffs appeal from this adverse judgment.
DISCUSSION
A motion for summary judgment is a procedural device used to avoid a full-scale trial when there is no genuine factual dispute. The motion should be granted only if the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with affidavits, 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 summary judgment procedure is favored and is designed to secure the just, speedy, and inexpensive determination of every action. La. C.C.P. art. 966(A)(2). On appeal, summary judgments are reviewed de novo under the same criteria that govern the district court's consideration of whether summary judgment is appropriate. An appellate court thus asks the same questions as does the trial court in determining whether summary judgment is appropriate: whether there is any genuine issue of material fact, and whether the mover-appellant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Naquin v. Louisiana Power & Light Company, 98-2270 (La. App. 1 Cir. 3/31/00), 768 So.2d 605, 607, writ denied, 2000-1741 (La. 9/15/00), 769 So.2d 546.
The trial court did not err in granting summary judgment in this case. The subcontract between Lemoine and Cajun contained an indemnity clause whereby Cajun was obligated to indemnify Lemoine for claims attributable to bodily injury arising out of, resulting from, or occurring in connection with the performance of Cajun's work, except when the injury was caused by the sole negligence of Lemoi
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