Source: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-ca10-89-03215/USCOURTS-ca10-89-03215-0/pdf.json

Nature of Suit Code: 360
Nature of Suit: Other Personal Injury
Cause of Action: 

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UNITED STATES COURT OF 

TENTH CIRCUIT 

CYNTHIA s. RUST; AMANDA B. RUST, by and) 

through her next Friend and Mother, ) 

Cynthia S. Rust; JAMES R. RUST, by and ) 

through his next Friend and Mother, ) 

Cynthia S. Rust; KENNETH MICHAEL RUST, ) 

by and through his next Friend and ) 

Mother Cynthia S. Rust; ESTATE OF ) 

KENNETH R. RUST, DECEASED, by and ) 

through its personal representative ) 

Cynthia S. Rust, ) 

) 

Plaintiffs-Appellants, ) 

) 

V • ) 

) 

FAIRBANKS MORSE PUMP CORPORATION, ) 

) 

Defendant-Appellee. ) 

f ILED 

United Scates Court of Appeals 

·r enth Ci~-:uit 

APPEALS JAN 7 1991 

ROBERT L. HOECKER 

Clerk 

No. 89-3215 

(D.C. No. CIV-88-2063-S) 

{D. Kan.) 

ORDER AND JUDGMENT* 

Before SEYMOUR, TACHA, and BRORBY, Circuit Judges. 

Plaintiff-appellant Cynthia Rust {Mrs. Rust) appeals a 

summary judgment in favor of defendant-appellee Fairbanks Morse 

Pump Corp. (Fairbanks) dismissing a wrongful death action for the 

death of her husband, Kenneth Rust (Mr. Rust). On appeal, Mrs. 

Rust argues the district court erred by: (1) finding the sole 

remedy for her husband's death is a workers' compensation claim 

and (2) dismissing her claim because there is no genuine issue of 

* This order and judgment has no precedential value and shall 

not be cited, or used by any court within the Tenth Circuit, 

except for purposes of establishing the doctrines of .the law of 

the case, res judicata, or collateral estoppel. 10th Cir. R. 

36.3. 

Appellate Case: 89-3215 Document: 010110069664 Date Filed: 01/07/1991 Page: 1 
, material fact about whether Mr. Rust was a statutory employee. We 

affirm. 

At the time of his death, Mr. Rust was a trainee with W.B. 

Mccloud & Co., a pest extermination company. Fairbanks hired 

Mccloud & Co. to exterminate pigeons -- a job that involved work 

on the roof of a storage building located on Fairbanks' premises. 

The pump patterns, raw castings, and finished products stored in 

the building were being damaged by pigeon droppings. While 

performing the extermination job, Mr. Rust fell through the roof 

and was killed. 

We review a district court's grant of a motion for summary 

judgment under the same standard the district court applies. In 

determining whether there is a genuine issue of material fact, we 

view all facts and inferences in the light most favorable to the 

nonmoving party. Burnette Y.!.. Dow Chemical Co., 849 F.2d 1269, 

1273 (10th Cir. 1988). However, a non-moving party cannot survive 

a motion for summary judgment based on bare allegations contained 

in the pleadings. See Vreeken Y.!.. Davis, 718 F.2d 343, 347 (10th 

Cir. 1983). In Vreeken we stated: "When the moving party 

provides affidavits or other evidence that appear to meet this 

burden, the adverse party ... must submit affidavits or other 

evidence setting forth specific facts showing that there is a 

genuine issue for trial." Id. (citations omitted). If no genuine 

issue of material fact remains, we affirm the district court 

unless it misapplied the law. Osgood Y.!.. State Farm Mut. Ins. Co., 

848 F.2d 141, 143 (10th Cir. 1988). We review legal questions de 

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Appellate Case: 89-3215 Document: 010110069664 Date Filed: 01/07/1991 Page: 2 
novo. Carey Y..!.. United States Postal Serv., 812 F.2d 621, 623 

(10th Cir. 1987). 

Mrs. Rust contends she is not precluded from bringing a 

wrongful death action against Fairbanks. Title 44, sections 

501(b) and 503(a) of the Kansas Statutes provide that a workers' 

compensation claim is the exclusive remedy for an independent 

contractor injured while performing any work that is a part of the 

defendant's trade or business. See,~, Woods Y..!.. Cessna 

Aircraft Co., 553 P.2d 900, 903 (Kan. 1976). In Hanna Y..!.. CRA, 

Inc., 409 P.2d 786, 789 (Kan. 1966), the Kansas Supreme Court 

stated: 

This court has laid down two rather definite tests 

by which to determine whether the work covered by a 

contract is part of the principal's trade or business, 

i.e., (1) is the work being performed by the independent 

contractor and the injured employee necessarily inherent 

in and an integral part of the principal's trade or 

business? (2) is the work being performed by the 

independent contractor and the injured employee such as 

would ordinarily been done by the employees of the 

principal? 

If either of the foregoing questions is answered in 

the affirmative the work being done is part of the 

principal's "trade or business" and the injured 

employee's sole remedy against the principal is under 

the Workman's Compensation Act. 

The Kansas Supreme Court interpreted this holding in Fugit Y..!.. 

United Beechcraft, Inc., 564 P.2d 521, 524 (Kan. 1977): 

K.S.A. 44-503(a) does not require the work undertaken to 

be the primary work of the principal contractor. It is 

sufficient if such work is a part of the overall 

operations of the principal contractor. A principal 

contractor may engage in several types of business 

activity, any one of which may constitute an integral 

part of its trade or business. 

Applying Kansas law to the facts, we agree with the district 

court's conclusion that Mr. Rust was a statutory employee of 

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Appellate Case: 89-3215 Document: 010110069664 Date Filed: 01/07/1991 Page: 3 
Fairbanks. Based on evidence in Fairbank's affidavits and facts 

Mrs. Rust conceded, the court found the patterns and castings were 

"essential equipment to Fairbanks' business." The facts showed the 

pigeons Mr. Rust was attempting to eliminate were causing 

irreparable damage to this equipment. The court concluded Mr. 

Rust's work for Fairbanks on the day he was killed was 

"'necessarily inherent in and an integral part of [Fairbanks'] 

trade or business.'" Under Kansas law, the sole remedy for Mr. 

Rust's death is a workers' compensation claim. 

Our conclusion that Mr. Rust was a statutory employee is 

supported by a recent decision of the Kansas Supreme Court. In 

Hollingsworth Y.!.. Fehrs Equipment Co., 729 P.2d 1214, 1215 (Kan. 

1986), a worker was injured while repairing a boiler in a 

fertilizer plant. The Kansas Supreme Court found the fact the 

boiler was necessary to the plant's operation was undisputed. Id. 

at 1217, 1219. Thus, the boiler's repair and maintenance was 

"necessarily inherent in and an integral part of the principal's 

trade or business." Id. at 1219. The court concluded that the 

plaintiff was a statutory employee of the plant owners and was 

precluded from bringing a negligence action for his injuries. Id. 

The court noted "the provisions of the Act are to be liberally 

construed to bring workers under the Act whether or not it is 

desirable for the specific individual's circumstance." Id. 

at 1217. 

Here, the facts are indistinguishable from Hollingsworth. 

The molds, patterns, and castings stored in the building are 

necessary to Fairbanks' business. Thus, repairs necessary to 

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Appellate Case: 89-3215 Document: 010110069664 Date Filed: 01/07/1991 Page: 4 
protect and maintain this equipment are an integral part of 

Fairbanks' overall operations. Construing the law liberally as 

Hollingsworth requires, we conclude Mr. Rust was a statutory 

employee of Fairbanks and the sole remedy for his death rests in a 

workers' compensation claim. 

The only issue of fact that might remain relates to the 

condition of the storage building. However, Mrs. Rust's bare 

allegation that the storage building's disrepair demonstrates the 

molds, patterns, and castings were not integral to Fairbanks' 

operations is insufficient to controvert Fairbanks' affidavits to 

the contrary. Because Mrs. Rust did not proffer affidavits or 

other evidence to support her allegations, there is no genuine 

dispute about the condition of the building. See Vreeken, 718 F.2d 

at 347. Moreover, even if facts about the condition of the 

building had been contested by evidence contained in affidavits, we 

are not convinced these facts are material to a determination 

whether Mr. Rust was a statutory employee. 

Mrs. Rust also contends the notice of appeal is sufficient to 

invoke this court's jurisdiction over her children's claims. 

Because the notice of appeal designated "Cynthia s. Rust, an 

individual, et al." as appellants, it is unclear under Federal Rule 

of Appellate Procedure 3(c) whether the children are included in 

the appeal based on Mrs. Rust's capacity as personal representative 

of the estate. However, we do not need to decide whether we have 

appellate jurisdiction over Mrs. Rust's children in this appeal 

because the result is the same either way. If Mrs. Rust's children 

are included in her appeal, their claim is dismissed with hers. 

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I 

Alternatively, if the children are not parties to Mrs. Rust's 

appeal and we do not have jurisdiction here, their claims will be 

barred because they did not independently appeal the district 

court's order within thirty days as Rule 4(a)(l) of the Federal 

Rules of Appellate Procedure requires. 

We hold there is no genuine issue of material fact about 

whether Mr. Rust was a statutory employee. We also hold a workers' 

compensation claim is the only remedy available under Kansas law. 

We AFFIRM. 

ENTERED FOR THE COURT 

Deanell Reece Tacha 

Circuit Judge 

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