Case Title: Dunham v. Walker

Citation: 288 P.2d 684, 60 N.M. 143

Docket Number: 

State: new-mexico

Court: New Mexico Supreme Court

Date: 1955-10-04T00:00:00Z

Document:
288 P.2d 684 (1955) 60 N.M. 143 Harry B. DUNHAM and American Associated Insurance Companies, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. Billy WALKER, an individual, d/b/a Billy Walker Trucking Company, Defendant-Appellee. No. 5952. Supreme Court of New Mexico. October 4, 1955. L. George Schubert, Hobbs, for appellants. Neal & Girand, Hobbs, for appellee. SADLER, Justice. The plaintiff below and his co-plaintiff, the employer's carrier of workmen's compensation insurance, appellants here, seek a recovery of damages from defendant, *685 Billy Walker, doing business as Billy Walker Trucking Company, the former by way of compensation for injuries claimed to have been negligently inflicted on him in an accident arising out of and in the course of his employment; the latter by way of reimbursement to it for workmen's compensation paid plaintiff by reason of his said injuries. The trial court having directed the jury to return a verdict for defendant when the plaintiff rested, judgment pursuant to such verdict was rendered in his favor. This appeal has followed. At the time of his injury, on March 1, 1953, the plaintiff was an employee of the Howard P. Holmes Drilling Company, operating in Lea County, New Mexico. While on the premises of his employer, an employee of defendant was also present, and at the moment using one of its trucks with a winch attachment in unloading heavy sills from a float. The front end of defendant's truck suddenly started to ascend from the ground while the sills, consisting of rig lumber, were being unloaded from the float. The plaintiff, thinking he could hold the truck down by the weight of his body, stepped on the truck's bumper. However, the front of the truck began such a rapid ascent that plaintiff, who might earlier have stepped from his perch without risk of injury, became fearful he might be injured by a jump and remained on the bumper, intending when it became stationary, to crawl down the side of the truck. Standing on the bumper in the position he was, the plaintiff was able to observe the driver of the truck through its windshield. He testified: Further details of the accident are to be found in the recitals of the plaintiff, testifying in his own behalf on cross-examination, as follows: The plaintiff further testified: While the testimony is not clear and is more or less confusing throughout due to plaintiff's evasiveness and asserted ignorance of important details, indisputable facts emerge and appear controlling. We now recite them. The accident resulting in plaintiff's injuries occurred on the premises of his employer, the Howard P. Holmes Drilling Company. The immediate task in hand was unloading some rig lumber, to wit, oil and water soaked sills, the property of Holmes Drilling Company, from a float truck. In the work of unloading, a winch truck belonging to Billy Walker, the defendant, and another truck as to whose ownership plaintiff disclaims knowledge, were being used to hoist the heavy timbers off the float and lower them to the ground. No employee of the defendant, other than the driver of the Billy Walker truck on which plaintiff was injured was on the premises. At least, none was identified as being present. Every person present, except driver of the Billy Walker winch truck, was an employee of Howard P. Holmes Drilling Company, for which company the sills were being delivered. These employees were Ross Solomon and Buster Florence, drilling superintendents for Holmes, as well as the plaintiff himself, a tool pusher. Asked if there was a Billy Walker pusher there, plaintiff replied, "Not that I know of." At the time of plaintiff's injury the Billy Walker truck had already unloaded and having done so was ready to leave the Howard Holmes yard when the aid of its driver apparently was invoked to assist in unloading the float in question by the Howard Holmes employees, including its drilling superintendent. This fact appears by testimony so compelling as to be unanswerable. No tool pusher or person in supervisory capacity working for Billy Walker other than the driver of the winch truck involved, was then or at any other time identified as being present, or there-abouts. The only supervisors on the job were the three supervisors for Howard Holmes, Ross Solomon, Buster Florence and the plaintiff himself. They and they alone had any direction of the work in hand. Note these words from plaintiff: It being so obvious from foregoing testimony that the Billy Walker winch truck was detained under the circumstances shown to assist in the work of unloading sills from a Howard Holmes truck, and all details and direction of the work being under the direct supervision of two drilling superintendents and a tool pusher of the Howard Holmes Company, it is easy to understand the contention of counsel for defendant, with which we are compelled to agree, that for purposes of the work underway, the driver of the Billy Walker truck became a special employee of Howard Holmes Drilling Company. If he was, then his acts became those of his special employer by reason whereof no liability in the premises can attach to Billy Walker for the negligence, if any, of the driver of the Billy Walker winch truck so engaged. The case most strongly relied upon by counsel for the defendant is so nearly in point on its facts as to suffice in and of itself to support the action of the trial court in directing a verdict for defendant when the plaintiff rested his case in chief. We refer to the case of Jones v. George F. Getty Oil Company, 10 Cir., 92 F.2d 255, 258, which arose on facts occurring in New Mexico, resulting in the affirmance of a judgment of the District Court of New Mexico for the District of New Mexico. It may be well to recite the controlling facts in the Getty Oil Company case. The latter company owned, controlled and operated a 40-acre tract of land upon which were located three water wells and numerous oil wells which it maintained. It made a contract with one E.C. Norwood to sell him specified quantities of water for the latter's drilling operations. On the date in question, April 8, 1934, the three water wells had become out of repair and ceased to pump water. This prevented Norwood from continuing the drilling of oil wells, no other source of water being available. In such circumstances Norwood along with his foreman, Bill Wood, instructed plaintiff, Jones, and other employees to accompany him (Bill Wood) upon the 40-acre tract of defendant to repair the wells mentioned. The voluntary entry on defendant's premises by Bill Wood and his crew, including plaintiff, was with the consent of defendant, acting through its lease superintendent, Stewart, in charge of its premises. The suit in question was a common law action for damages. The court held there was no liability therefor, the plaintiff becoming a special employee of defendant whose sole liability was under the New Mexico Workmen's Compensation Law. The details of the accident which resulted in plaintiff's injuries for which damages were sought against defendant, owner of the wells in question, are disclosed by the following quotations from the opinion of the United States Circuit Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit, of which New Mexico is a part, to wit: The application of controlling principles to the position of the parties is identical in the Getty case and in the case at bar. In the Getty case, if the plaintiff as a general employee of Norwood became a special employee of Getty Oil Company as to the work in hand, such company became subject to compensation under the New Mexico Workmen's Compensation law and by the same token absolved from common law liability to plaintiff for the injuries suffered by the latter. In like fashion, if the driver of defendant's winch truck in rendering the service he did in the unloading of the Holmes float truck became a special employee of Howard Holmes Drilling Company in performing the work he did, the relation of respondeat superior no longer and for purposes of that employment existed between such employee and Billy Walker and the latter could not be subjected to liability in damages for the negligence, if any, of the Billy Walker winch truck. The problem is that simple. Every test set forth in the Getty case for determining whether the relation of special employee to the Howard Holmes Drilling Company existed is fully met in the case before us. The work being done was for the benefit of the Holmes Company. It had the power to control the work and the special employee through its supervisors on the ground. Admittedly, they directed the course of the work throughout. No other employee of Billy Walker, the general employer of the driver of the winch truck, was around or assisting in the work being done for benefit of the Holmes Company, except that driver himself. One of the supporting cases cited and relied upon in the Getty Oil Company case is that of McLamb v. E.I. DuPont DeNemours & Co., 4 Cir., 79 F.2d 966, 967, the opinion in which contains such an illuminating discussion of the whole question that we quote therefrom at some length, as follows: While an opinion by the United States Circuit Court of Appeals of which New Mexico forms a part, is not binding on this Court; nevertheless, where as well supported in reason and logic as this one, it is highly persuasive. We have not heretofore had occasion to notice the opinion in the Getty case on this exact point, though we did see fit to cite and accept it on another, in Snider v. Town of Silver City, 56 N.M. 603, 247 P.2d 178. We now accept it with equal assurance on the decisive issue before us in the case at bar. The rationale of the Getty case is truly applicable here. It persuades us to hold with the defendant that the driver of the Billy Walker winch truck was a special employee of the Howard P. Holmes Drilling Company at the time of plaintiff's injury. Hence, we are unable to hold defendant liable in a common law action for damages. It is, therefore, not anomalous to note that Holmes Company's insurance carrier seeks, in this very action, to reimburse itself the amounts paid to plaintiff in a recognition by the latter of liability for compensation to him under the New Mexico Workmen's Compensation Law. While this fact alone would not foreclose plaintiff's right to maintain the present action, it is entirely consistent and in harmony with our conclusion of nonliability on defendant's part. Before closing we shall add a few additional cases dealing generally with the question we have been considering. State Compensation Ins. Fund v. Industrial Acc. Commission, 26 Cal. 2d 278, 158 P.2d 195; Moleton v. Union Pac. R.R. Co., 118 Utah 107, 219 P.2d 1080 and Carnes v. Industrial Commission, 73 Ariz. 264, 240 P.2d 536. It follows from what has been said that the judgment of the district court is correct and should be affirmed. It is so ordered. COMPTON, C.J., and LUJAN and McGHEE, JJ., concur. KIKER, J., concurring specially. KIKER, Justice (concurring specially). I concur in the result. My reason for so doing is that, after what I think is a very careful search of the record, I do not find sufficient evidence to support a prima facie case that defendant's negligence was the proximate cause of plaintiff's injuries. I think that the first ground of the motion made by defendant should have been sustained; I think it may well be that it was on that ground *691 that the trial judge sustained the motion for a directed verdict. I am in serious doubt that defendant's truck driver, if defendant had a truck at the place of injury, was a special employee of Howard P. Holmes Drilling Co.