Opinion ID: 754286
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The District Court's Memorandum and Order

Text: 15 The district court relied on the Matteuzzi standard to set forth the test for premises liability under Missouri law. Slip op. at 5-6. In granting summary judgment in favor of Tyson, the district court specifically relied on the holding in Matteuzzi, 866 S.W.2d at 132, that a landowner is liable for the injuries of the employee of an independent contractor who is entitled to workers' compensation only if, after relinquishing possession and control of the premises, the landowner exercises substantial control over the contractor by controlling the activities of the contractor's employees or the details of the manner in which the contracted work is performed. See id. at 12, 16. Under this test, the district court held that summary judgment in favor of Tyson was appropriate because Tyson did not exercise substantial control over LRE employees generally, or direct Mullins to use the main hallway for ingress and egress in particular. Id. at 12-13, 16. 16 The district court based its conclusions on its erroneous interpretation of two cases applying Zueck and Matteuzzi: Gosnell, 11 F.3d at 781-82 (holding under Missouri law that landowner not liable on premises liability theory where plumber fell from an unprotected, elevated walkway while working at a construction site and received workers' compensation benefits from independent contractor for injury),and Noble, 908 S.W.2d 390 (affirming directed verdict on premises liability theory in favor of landowner when contractor's employee fell through an open stairwell while preparing to insulate an area of house still under construction). The district court cites Gosnell and Noble as support for the proposition that a negligence claim by an employee of an independent contractor injured on her way to the job site, and away from the area under the contractor's control, is barred under Missouri law where workers' compensation is available. Slip op. at 12-14. The district court further found that, because Mullins was at his job site and he was covered by workers' compensation, his injuries arose out of and in the course of his employment with LRE, and, therefore Tyson could not be liable. Id. at 15-16. However, as noted above, the district court failed to recognize that, in each of these cases, the employees of the independent contractors were engaged in contracted work either by gaining immediate access to the job site or during the performance of the actual work. Cf. Gillespie, 937 S.W.2d at 373 (holding that Matteuzzi barred failure to warn claim by employee of independent contractor who stepped through gap between steel beams hidden by dust and insulation while installing cable on top of beams). 17 In addition, the district court held that Tyson was shielded from liability because the LRE job site included any place where the employee may reasonably be while he [or she] is engaged in the furtherance of the employer's business, or in some activity incidental thereto. Slip op. at 13 (citing Horner v. Hammons, 916 S.W.2d 810, 815 (Mo.Ct.App.1995); Yaffe v. St. Louis Children's Hosp., 648 S.W.2d 549, 550 (Mo.Ct.App.1982)). This reasoning confuses the doctrine limiting employer liability to statutory employees, as they are defined by workers' compensation law, with the Matteuzzi standard for landowner liability to invitees who are employees of independent contractors. The definition of job site employed by the district court was developed under Missouri law in order to establish the scope of employer liability for injuries to statutory employees under Missouri's workers' compensation scheme. See Mo. Ann. Stat. § 287.040(1)-(4) (defining statutory employee and provisions for liability between landowners, contractors, and subcontractors under Missouri's workers' compensation scheme); see also Jones Constr. Co. v. Sanders, 875 S.W.2d 154 (Mo.Ct.App.1994) (summarizing the elements of statutory employment: 1) the work was being performed pursuant to a contract; 2) the injury occurred on or about the premises of the alleged statutory employer; 3) when injured, the alleged statutory employee was performing work which was in the usual course of business of the alleged statutory employer). By statute, employees of independent contractors engaged in erecting, demolishing, altering, or repairing premises are specifically precluded from being statutory employees. See Mo. Ann. Stat. § 287.040(3). Indeed, the Missouri legislature saw fit to exclude injuries to independent contractors engaged in construction activities from the limitations on recovery imposed by the workers' compensation program. Thus, the definition of job site used to determine the limits of liability for injuries to statutory employees is not applicable to landowner liability for injuries to employees of independent contractors, and the district court's reliance on this definition of job site is misplaced.