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Public Service Co. v. Fort Worth Grain Exchange9/15/1998
NOTICE: THIS OPINION HAS NOT BEEN RELEASED FOR PUBLICATION IN THE PERMANENT LAW REPORTS. UNTIL RELEASED, IT IS SUBJECT TO REVISION OR WITHDRAWAL.
SUPREME COURT OF OKLAHOMA
Public Service Company of Oklahoma, Appellee, v. Fort Worth Grain Exchange, Appellant.
APPEAL FROM DISTRICT COURT, TULSA COUNTY
Honorable Sharron Bubenik, Judge
Electric utility brought indemnity action against employer of injured worker based on "six foot" rule found at title 63, section 981, of Oklahoma statutes. Trial court granted summary judgment for utility. Employer appeals.
TRIAL COURT REVERSED;
CAUSE REMANDED WITH DIRECTIONS.
This is an indemnity action. The underlying action resulted from injuries sustained by an employee of Appellant, Fort Worth Grain Exchange (Employer). The employee suffered electrical shock while standing on a railway car and using a metal probe to sample grain. The probe touched a high-voltage electric line owned by Appellee, Public Service Company of Oklahoma (PSO).
The employee sued PSO, the manufacturer of the grain probe, and the owners of the grain elevator where the accident occurred. PSO brought Employer into the action as a third-party defendant alleging that Employer was required to indemnify PSO for any liability PSO incurred from the accident. The underlying action was dismissed when the employee reached settlements with the defendants. PSO paid the injured worker $610,000.00. In a separate proceeding, Employer paid workers' compensation benefits to its injured employee. PSO then brought this indemnity action against Employer to recover the $610,000.00 paid to the injured worker.
The trial court entered summary judgment for PSO, despite Employer's demands for a jury trial to determine the issues of contributory negligence and assumption of the risk. Judgment was entered for the entire amount PSO paid to Employer's injured employee.
Employer claims the trial court erred by granting summary judgment while issues of contributory negligence and assumption of the risk remained unresolved. PSO asserts the trial court's judgment was required under the liability imposed by the "six foot" rule found at title 63, section 981, of the Oklahoma statutes and the indemnity provision found at section 984.
Section 981 prohibits anyone from doing anything which might place a person or an object within six feet of any electric line or conductor. Section 984 provides that one who violates the "six foot" rule of section 981 "shall be liable to the owner or operator of such high voltage line or conductor . . . for all liability incurred by such owner or operator as a result of any such accidental contact."
Employer argues that because it has paid workers' compensation benefits to its injured worker, the exclusive remedy provisions of the Workers' Compensation Act make it immune to any other liability. The identical argument, however, was rejected in Travelers Insurance Co. v. L.V. French Truck Service, 770 P.2d 551 (Okla. 1988). There, this Court specifically held that the immunity afforded an employer by the Workers' Compensation Act does not extend to liability imposed by section 984. Id. at 554. See also Ring v. Public Serv. Co., 775 P.2d 1356, 1358 (Okla. 1989).
Employer then relies on section 987 of title 63 which states that the "six foot" rule does not apply to "the operation or maintenance of any equipment traveling or moving upon fixed rails of any railroad company subject to the Interstate Commerce Commission and/or to the Corporation Commission of the State of Oklahoma." Okla. Stat. tit. 63, ยง 987(c) (199
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