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Baggett v. Brumfield3/1/2000
AFFIRMED IN PART AND REVERSED IN PART.
In this tort litigation, the issues are whether an employer may be (1) vicariously liable, or (2) directly negligent for an accident occurring on public highways caused by an off-duty employee, on his way home from a twenty-one-hour shift, who apparently fell asleep, causing his vehicle to drift in the opposing lane of traffic, hitting a third- party motorist's vehicle head-on.
First, we affirm the trial court's decision finding no vicarious liability for the employer. It is well settled that an employer may not be vicariously liable for their employees' negligent acts which occur while on their way home from work. Moreover, we find that the Plaintiff did not set forth any genuine issues of material facts pertinent to its burden of proving an exception to this rule.
Second, we reverse the trial court's decision, finding the employer negligent for failing to prevent its employee from driving home after working a twenty-one-hour shift or for failing to keep its employee from working twenty-one-hour shifts and assessing the employer forty percent of fault. This issue is one of first impression in our state. We find that, as a matter of law, an employer does not owe a duty to public highway users under the circumstances sub judice.
In the early morning of November 12, 1996, as he drove to work at the Temple-Inland Lumber Mill (Temple) in DeQuincy, Louisiana, Mr. Royan Baggett, tragically lost his life, when his vehicle was hit head-on by a Chevrolet Blazer operated by Mr. Stephen Brumfield. The accident occurred at approximately 4:50 a.m. Mr. Baggett was proceeding south on Highway 171, south of DeRidder. Mr. Brumfield attemptted to return to Leesville after a lengthy work day in Sulphur, Louisiana.
Mr. Carwin Joseph Archield, one of Mr. Baggett's co-workers, also on his way to work, arrived first on the scene of the accident. Immediately, he noticed that Mr. Brumfield's vehicle leaked an inflammable fluid. He pulled him out of his car and, then, directed himself toward the other vehicle which he realized belonged to Mr. Baggett. He attempted to open Mr. Baggett's truck to pull him out, but found the doors blocked. He reached inside to check his vital signs. He did not feel a pulse and stated that he preferred not to describe Mr. Baggett's physical condition out of respect for his widow. He went back to check on Mr. Brumfield. During that time, Mr. Randy Colflesh, another Temple employee on his way to work, arrived on the scene of the accident. Immediately, he and Mr. Archield attempted to pull Mr. Baggett's truck away from Mr. Brumfield's igniting vehicle. Their efforts remained unsuccessful. Medical personnel arrived shortly thereafter at approximately 5:00 a.m.
Trooper Hershell Dwayne Smith with the Louisiana State Police received notification of the accident at approximately 5:00 a.m. and arrived on the site approximately eight minutes later. He testified that the vehicle's position and his investigation of the accident conclusively established that Mr. Brumfield caused the accident when his automobile crossed the road's center line to collide, head-on, with Mr. Baggett's.
Although the reasons for the accident are largely unexplained, the prevailing theory is that Mr. Brumfield fell asleep, causing his vehicle to drift into the opposing lane of travel. The trial court explained that it adhered to this theory because "unquestionably, . . . the point of impact was in the southbound lane of travel. The question then becomes what was the probable cause of that. Since there is no other explanation for it, including skid marks, . . . more probably than not, this was caused by Mr. Brumfield d
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