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Hunsperger v. USF Reddaway9/1/2004
Argued and submitted December 11, 2003.
Affirmed.
Plaintiff William Hunsperger appeals from the trial court's grant of summary judgment in favor of defendant USF Reddaway (defendant) on his personal injury claim. Plaintiff William Hunsperger and his wife sued defendant, plaintiff's employer, for injuries that he suffered while at work. Plaintiff argues that genuine issues of material fact exist sufficient to create an issue for the jury regarding whether defendant deliberately intended the injuries. Under Washington law, which applies here, plaintiff must show defendant's deliberate intent in order to avoid the exclusive remedy provided by Washington's Industrial Insurance Act. Because plaintiff did not present sufficient evidence of intent to support a jury finding in his favor, we affirm.
On review of the trial court's grant of summary judgment to defendant, we state the facts in the light most favorable to plaintiff, the nonmoving party. Webber v. Olsen, 330 Or 189, 192, 998 P2d 666 (2000). Plaintiff, a Washington resident, worked for defendant as a truck driver from 1993 until 1998, the year he suffered his injuries. The injuries occurred at a yard in Oregon that was owned and operated by defendant. On a rainy September night, plaintiff stopped at the yard while heading south. Typically, defendant's trucks that were heading south from Washington would pick up a third trailer for their trucks at the Oregon yard. Employees operating tractor-type vehicles called "yard goats" worked to add or remove trailers from trucks at the yard. Lighting in the area was poor--street lamps stood on the perimeter of the yard but did not shine on the area at issue. The area was dark enough that at least one driver routinely carried a flashlight when he walked there at night. On the occasion at issue, a light on a nearby shop building was obscured by trucks parked in front of it (as was often the case).
In order to add or remove a trailer, truck drivers were required to leave their trucks and hail a yard goat driver. The area was busy and congested; yard goats would often drive around from behind trucks and move in and out of tight spaces between trucks and trailers. The area was also noisy from the sound of many truck and yard goat engines. Truck drivers were paid for only 45 minutes of the time spent adding or removing trailers in the yard. According to plaintiff, yard goat drivers were also pushed to hurry in adding or removing trailers. Defendant's yard goat drivers were not required to have commercial driver's licenses. Compared to such drivers at yards where commercial licenses were required, defendant's yard goat drivers were relatively younger, less well-trained, and involved in more accidents at the yards.
The conditions at the yard caused one driver to call it a "dead man's zone." Truck drivers had notified defendant that it was unsafe for truck drivers to walk in the yard at night and asked defendant to provide reflective vests so that they would be more visible. Defendant did provide such vests to security personnel working in the yard but not to truck drivers.
At 3:00 a.m., plaintiff left his truck and was walking in the yard, possibly to hail a yard goat driver. It was drizzling at the time, just after a hard rain. While walking in the yard, plaintiff was struck by a yard goat driven by Dean Johnson, who, at the time, was not commercially licensed. Just before the accident, a witness saw Johnson drop off a trailer, drive to the end of a lane of parked trucks, and then turn left and accelerate quickly. The witness estimated that the yard goat was traveling at 10 to 12 miles an hour when it left his view; seconds later the witness heard the ya
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