Opinion ID: 884085
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: facts

Text: Robert and Lorraine Porter operated Personal Touch Services, a business in Billings that provided cleaning and maintenance services to commercial and residential customers. Gordon Galarneau is a Minnesota businessman who owns a business and residence in Billings. In 1986, Gordon engaged the Porters to perform various services for himself and Rinda Penrod, his wife. In 1988, Gordon sold his Billings residence but then repurchased the home in May 1992, at which time the Porters were again hired to perform miscellaneous jobs at the residence. Robert and Lorraine did a variety of work for Gordon and Rinda, including cleaning, grounds maintenance, repairs, and painting. The Porters were responsible for opening the house for contractors and delivery men, as well as leaving vehicles at the Billings airport when Gordon and Rinda arrived in town. In late November 1992, the parties agreed that Robert would paint an interior wall of the Billings house which was approximately twenty-two feet high. The floor of the room to be painted was tile. Lorraine testified that on the morning of November 30, 1992, Gordon told her that scaffolding was not necessary and that Robert should use a ladder for the job. Gordon denies this conversation ever took place. On December 3, 1992, Robert borrowed a ladder from his landlord and while preparing the wall for painting, fell from the ladder and was fatally injured. He died later that day at a Billings hospital. When Robert fell from the ladder Gordon was at his office in Minnesota and Rinda was in an upstairs bathroom of the Billings residence. Lorraine was working at another location and Kirk Porter, Robert's son, was on his way to help his father paint the wall. No one witnessed Robert's fall. Following Robert's death, Gordon terminated the working relationship with Lorraine and Kirk. On April 26, 1993, Lorraine and her sons, Jeff and Kirk, brought this action to recover damages for Robert's wrongful death and for Lorraine's and Kirk's wrongful termination of employment. Kirk subsequently abandoned his wrongful termination claim. The wrongful death claims alleged liability theories of negligence, violation of Montana's Scaffolding Act, and failure to provide a safe place to work. In a memorandum and order dated April 22, 1994, the District Court granted Gordon's motion for summary judgment on the wrongful death claims and denied summary judgment on Lorraine's wrongful termination claim. Prior to the District Court's order, Lorraine filed a motion to amend the complaint seeking to allege alternate theories of liability. In a memorandum and order dated April 28, 1994, the District Court denied most of Lorraine's proposed amendments but allowed her to amend the complaint to include a claim that Robert was a common law employee covered by Montana's Safety Act. Gordon subsequently renewed his motion for summary judgment on the basis that Robert was not an employee within the meaning of the Safety Act. On August 26, 1994, the District Court granted Gordon's motion for summary judgment, entered final judgment in favor of Gordon on the wrongful death claims, and stayed further proceedings on Lorraine's wrongful termination claim. Lorraine appeals the District Court's orders granting Gordon's motion for summary judgment on the wrongful death claims.