Opinion ID: 454695
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Drilling Contract.

Text: 6 At issue in the drilling contract between ANR and Murco is the interpretation of the so-called mutual indemnity provisions. The contract provides for indemnity as follows: 7 14.8 Contractor's [Murco's] Indemnification of Operator [ANR]: Contractor agrees to protect, defend, indemnify, and save Operator ... harmless from and against all claims, demands, and causes of action of every kind and character, without limit and without regard to the cause or causes thereof or the negligence of any party or parties, arising in connection herewith in favor of Contractor's employees or Contractor's subcontractors or their employees, or Contractor's invitees, on account of bodily injury, death or damage to property. 8 14.9 Operator's [ANR's] Indemnification of Contractor [Murco]: Operator agrees to protect, defend, indemnify, and save Contractor harmless from and against all claims, demands, and causes of action of every kind and character, without limit and without regard to the cause or causes thereof or the negligence of any party or parties, arising in connection herewith in favor of Operator's employees or Operator's contractors or their employees, or Operator's invitees, other than those parties identified in paragraph 14.8 on account of bodily injury, death or damage to property. 9 Under this agreement, ANR as the operator of the well, and Murco as the drilling contractor, assumed all liability for injuries sustained by their own employees, statutory or direct, regardless of whose fault caused the injury. These indemnification provisions therefore established that it was the relationship of the parties that determined liability rather than fault. 10 According to p 14.9, ANR was to indemnify Murco for any claims paid by Murco where the individual injured was an employee of a contractor of ANR. Blanks was an employee of Consolidated, a contractor of ANR. Therefore, Blanks was a party identified in p 14.9 for whom ANR had accepted liability even though Murco was determined to be at fault. 11 ANR, however, argues that under the proper construction of the mutual indemnity provisions, liability for Blank's injuries lies with Murco and not with ANR. Under p 14.9, ANR must indemnify Murco for parties identified in that section, other than those parties identified in p 14.8. Under p 14.8, Murco assumes liability for invitees of Murco who are injured at the drilling site. ANR argues that Blanks was an invitee of Murco and is therefore a party identified in p 14.8. As a party identified in p 14.8, ANR contends that p 14.9 is inapplicable and that p 14.8 is the operative indemnity provision. 12 The district court found that Blanks was not an invitee of Murco within the meaning of p 14.8. In Louisiana, an invitee is a person who goes onto premises with the expressed or implied invitation of the occupant, on business of the occupant or for their mutual advantage. Arcement v. Southern Pacific Transportation Co., 517 F.2d 729, 733 (5th Cir.1975); Foggin v. General Guaranty Insurance Co., 195 So.2d 636, 641, 250 La. 347 (La.1967); Brown v. State Farm Fire & Casualty Company, 252 So.2d 909, 911 (La.App. 2nd Cir.1971). ANR argues that because Blanks was assisting a Murco employee at the time he was injured, at that moment he became an invitee of Murco. But ANR ignores the fact that invitee status is determined by who invites the injured party onto the premises. Blanks was invited onto the drilling site by ANR through his employee status with Consolidated and was there performing services for ANR's benefit. Blanks and Consolidated were invitees of ANR, as was Murco. 62 Am.Jur.2d, Premises Liability, Sec. 121 (1972). The fact that Blanks assisted a Murco employee, even though his assistance may have been solicited by the Murco employee, has no bearing on his status as an invitee of ANR. 13 ANR cites Paul v. Traders & General Insurance Co., 127 So.2d 801 (La.App. 3rd Cir.1961), to support its position that Blanks became an invitee of Murco by virtue of the fact that a Murco employee solicited Blanks' assistance. In Paul, the plaintiff was visiting a pulpwood loading yard where an employee of the owner solicited his help in untangling pulpwood from a loader. The plaintiff had been a former employee of the owner of the plant and was familiar with the loader equipment. While assisting the employee, the plaintiff's hand became tangled in the loader and was injured. The court held that the plaintiff was an invitee and not a trespasser on the premises because he was performing services that were beneficial to the employer. 14 In Paul, it was necessary to determine the plaintiff's status on the premises in order to define whether the owner of the premises owed a duty of care to the plaintiff during his visit to the plant. By classifying the plaintiff as an invitee, the court accounted for his presence on the premises for purposes of determining that the owner of the plant owed a duty of reasonable care to him. In this case, we need not account for Blanks presence on the drilling site because he was already an invitee of ANR. The standard of care owed by Murco to Blanks in no way related to the legitimacy of Blanks' presence on the drilling site. 15 Because Blanks was not an invitee of Murco, p 14.8 is not the operative indemnity provision. Rather, p 14.9 is the controlling provision. Because Blanks is an employee of ANR's contractor, ANR is liable to Murco under p 14.9 for damages paid to Blanks. We therefore affirm the district court's finding on this issue. 1 16