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ENGLAND v. BEERS CONSTRUCTION COMPANY12/2/1996
Danny Dwight England was severely injured while working on a construction site. Through his guardian, he filed a single lawsuit against both the prime contractor, Beers Construction Company, and the owner of the premises, Southern Regional Medical Center. In Case No. A96A0992, England appeals from the grant of summary judgment to Beers. In Case No. A96A0993, Southern Regional appeals from the denial of its summary judgment motion. We affirm both rulings.
In 1974, Southern Regional hired Beers to work on Southern Regional's property. As part of that work, Beers installed a metal
grate over an air shaft approximately 20 feet deep.
In 1992, Southern Regional again hired Beers, this time to work on its emergency room. This construction project involved work in an area adjacent to the air shaft. Beers subcontracted some of the work to Breman Steel, Inc., who in turn subcontracted with Park Place Steel, Inc., England's employer. While performing his work on the project on the occasion of his injury, England was standing on a ladder placed on top of the grate covering the air shaft when the grate gave way, causing him to fall. England landed on his head at the bottom of the air shaft. He suffered severe brain injury and has existed in a persistent vegetative state since his fall. His family received workers' compensation benefits from Park Place or its insurer. In this action, England alleges that Beers negligently installed the grate in 1974; that Southern Regional negligently accepted the grate from Beers in 1974; and that Southern Regional negligently maintained the grate from 1974 to 1992.
Case No. A96A0992.
1. In the trial court, Beers successfully argued that it was entitled to tort immunity as England's "statutory employer" under the Workers' Compensation Act, OCGA § 34-9-1 et seq. This argument was based on two sections of the Act: OCGA § 34-9-11 (a), stating that the Act provides the exclusive remedy for injured employees; and OCGA § 34-9-8 (a), which states: "A principal, intermediate, or subcontractor shall be liable for compensation to any employee injured while in the employ of any of his subcontractors engaged upon the subject matter of the contract to the same extent as the immediate employer." In Yoho v. Ringier of America, 263 Ga. 338, 341 (434 S.E.2d 57) (1993), our Supreme Court held: "Only an entity who is secondarily liable for workers' compensation benefits under OCGA § 34-9-8 (a) is consequently entitled to tort immunity under OCGA § 34-9-11."
England contends that, for several reasons, Beers was not secondarily liable for his workers' compensation benefits, and that the trial court therefore erred in granting Beers "statutory employer" tort immunity.
(a) England first maintains that the "his subcontractors" language of OCGA § 34-9-8 (a) makes Beers potentially liable for workers' compensation payments to employees of only those subcontractors with whom Beers was in contractual privity. Because Beers was only in contractual privity with Breman Steel, not his employer, Park Place, England maintains that Park Place was not Beers' subcontractor under this statute.
In Landrum v. Cobb County Concrete Products, 191 Ga. App. 805
(383 S.E.2d 144) (1989), a contractor two levels "up the ladder," not in contractual privity with the deceased worker's immediate employer, was held to be the worker's statutory employer. " he statute [OCGA § 34-9-8] embraces all who are in the venture with the hope of making a profit out of the doing of the work as distinguished from one out of the use or disposition of the completed project." (Citation and punctuation omitted, emphasis in original.) Yoho, supra at 34
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