Opinion ID: 1831924
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: negligence of the employer

Text: Louisiana Swabbing negligently failed to post no smoking signs on its fuel tanks. Adopting the jury's apparent conclusion that a cigarette or cigarette lighter ignited the explosion, some fault can be assigned to Louisiana Swabbing. The general lack of safety precautions or instructions furnish a reasonable evidentiary basis for the jury's conclusion that Louisiana Swabbing was twenty percent at fault. Unlike decedent, Louisiana Swabbing could deal on an equal basis with Guidry Oil Company. The rights and remedies of an employee in the Louisiana compensation scheme exclude all other rights and remedies against the employer. LSA-R.S. 23:1032. The employee retains his right to tort recovery against a negligent third party. LSA-R.S. 23:1101. The employer who pays compensation also has the right to bring suit against a negligent third party or to intervene in an employee's suit. LSA-R.S. 23:1101-02. When there is a suit against a negligent third party and damages are recovered, the claim of the employer for repayment of compensation has priority over that of the injured employee or his surviving dependents. LSA-R.S. 23:1103. Other jurisdictions are divided on the issue of whether an employer's negligence can be considered in an employee's suit against a third party tortfeasor. The conflict between a scheme of comparative negligence and an employer's tort immunity under worker's compensation was recognized in Heckendorn v. Consolidated Rail Corp., 502 Pa. 101, 465 A.2d 609 (1983). Heckendorn held that comparative negligence does not allow consideration of an employer's negligence. Also see Beach v. M & N Modern Hydraulic Press Co., 428 F.Supp 956 (D.Kan.1977); Arctic Structures, Inc. v. Wedmore, 605 P.2d 426 (Ala. 1979); Thompson v. Stearns Chemical Corp., 345 N.W.2d 131 (Iowa 1984); Ramos v. Browning Ferris Industries, 103 N.J. 177, 510 A.2d 1152 (1986); and Port Auth. v. Honeywell Prot. Serv., 222 N.J.Super 11, 535 A.2d 974 (1987). Wisconsin has adopted the other position: failure to have a jury consider an employer's negligence in apportioning fault is reversible error. Connar v. West Shore Equipment of Milwaukee, 68 Wis.2d 42, 227 N.W.2d 660 (1975). Also see Keefer v. Al Johnson Construction Co., 292 Minn. 91, 193 N.W.2d 305 (1971); Scales v. St. Louis-S.F. Ry. Co., 2 Kan.App.2d 491, 582 P.2d 300 (1978); Pocatello Ind. Park Co. v. Steel West, Inc., 101 Idaho 783, 621 P.2d 399 (1980); and McDevitt v. Terminal Warehouse Co., 346 Pa.Super 186, 499 A.2d 374 (1985). Professor Arthur Larson describes the arguments in the controversy as evenly-balanced. 2A Larson, Workmen's Compensation Law, Sec. 76.11 at 14-561 (1982). Reed v. Shell Offshore, Inc., 872 F.2d 680 (5th Cir.1989), recognized that Louisiana's courts of appeal had refused to apportion fault between a solidary obligor and a statutorily immune employer. Reed held that the trial court did not err in refusing to submit the employer's liability to the jury. See Snyder v. Taylor, 523 So.2d 1348 (La.App. 2d Cir.1988), writ denied, 531 So.2d 267; Senez v. Grumman Flxible Corp., 518 So.2d 574 (La.App. 4th Cir.1987), writ denied, 521 So.2d 1151; and Chatelain v. Project Square 221, 505 So.2d 177 (La.App. 4th Cir.1987), writ denied, 508 So.2d 71. Reed followed these Louisiana cases. In the employee/employer bargain of a worker's compensation scheme, the employee surrenders the possibility of tort recovery for the certainty of compensation and the employer receives tort immunity in exchange for paying compensation. The claim of the employee against the employer is solely for statutory benefits; his claim against the third person is for damages. The two are different in kind and cannot result in a common liability. Third-Party Action Over Against Workers' Compensation Employer, 1982 Duke L.J. 483, 488. The compensation principle is independent of fault. At the time of this accident, the only statutory authority for considering employer fault was an oblique reference in a jury instruction statute. LSA-C.C.P. art. 1812 had been amended by Act 534 of 1983 to allow a jury interrogatory asking: (2) If appropriate, whether another person, whether party or not, other than the person suffering injury, death, or loss, was at fault, and, if so: (a) Whether such fault was a legal cause of the damages, and, if so: (b) The degree of such fault, expressed in percentage. Interpreting the amendment, Lemire v. New Orleans Public Service, Inc., 458 So.2d 1308 (La.1984), held that a jury interrogatory on the fault of a party immune from trial by jury was mandatory when supported by the evidence. However, the compensation principle excludes the concept of employer fault. It is not clear that the statutory language was intended to embrace employer fault. Since the statute does not specifically require juries to consider the comparative fault of employers, there is no express legislative directive on the issue. Extending the amendment to employers would violate the compensation principle and cannot be done by implication. Thus, the trial court erred in having the jury quantify the fault of Louisiana Swabbing. See Franklin v. Oilfield Heavy Haulers, 478 So.2d 549 (La.App. 3d Cir. 1985), writ denied, 481 So.2d 1331 (1986). Since the jury erred in assigning fault to Louisiana Swabbing, that percentage of fault must be disregarded. See Davis v. Commercial Union Ins. Co., 892 F.2d 378 (5th Cir.1990). Because decedent has 10 percent of fault and the third party tortfeasor has 70 percent of fault, the total fault must be apportioned between decedent and the tortfeasor at a one to seven ratio. See Robertson, The Louisiana Law of Comparative Fault: a Decade of Progress, forthcoming publication by the LSU Law Center. Decedent's fault is thereby increased to 12.5 percent and Guidry Oil Company's fault is increased to 87.5 percent.