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Hunsperger v. USF Reddaway9/1/2004
rd goat skid on wet pavement. The witness found plaintiff, who had sustained serious injuries, on the ground in front of the yard goat.
At least one of defendant's employees had been injured previously due to the negligence of a yard goat driver, but not under circumstances similar to those at issue here. In that case, which occurred in the daytime at a different yard (in Medford), a trailer was parked at a loading dock. A forklift driver was driving onto the trailer at the same time that a yard goat driver pulled the trailer away from the dock. The forklift fell to the ground and its load fell on top of the driver, causing serious injuries and eventually death.
Plaintiff and his wife sued defendant for intentional injury , alleging that defendant knew that truck drivers walking in the yard at night were "certain" to be injured or killed by yard goats due to inadequate lighting, layout, and "yard practices." Defendant moved for summary judgment, arguing that, under the applicable Washington law, plaintiffs were limited to the remedies provided under the Industrial Insurance Act (IIA, Washington's workers' compensation scheme) for any injuries that occurred on the job . Defendant further argued that the only exception to that exclusive remedy applied when an employer had "actual knowledge that an injury was certain to occur and willfully disregarded that knowledge"; defendant asserted that plaintiff could not meet that standard. The trial court agreed with defendant and granted the motion.
Plaintiff now appeals, and both parties renew the arguments made below. Both agree that Washington law applies, and both agree that the appropriate inquiry is whether defendant had "actual knowledge that an injury was certain to occur and willfully disregarded that knowledge." See Birklid v. Boeing Co., 127 Wash 2d 853, 865, 904 P2d 278, 285 (1995). We affirm a grant of summary judgment only if "no objectively reasonable juror" could return a verdict for the nonmoving party, here plaintiff. See Robinson v. Lamb's Wilsonville Thriftyway, 332 Or 453, 455, 31 P3d 421 (2001) (quoting ORCP 47 C).
The IIA provides an exclusive remedy for employees injured in the course of employment, thus barring lawsuits by employees against employers. RCW 51.04.010. However, the IIA contains an exception: employees may bring actions against employers " f injury results to a worker from the deliberate intention of his or her employer to produce such injury." RCW 51.24.020. Although Washington courts initially interpreted the exception narrowly, finding "deliberate intention" only when the employer (or its agent) had a specific intent to cause injury to a particular employee, Birklid, 127 Wash 2d at 861-62, 904 P2d at 283-84, the Washington Supreme Court significantly broadened that interpretation in Birklid.
In that case, employees of Boeing were asked to work with a new material in preproduction testing. Id. at 856, 904 P2d at 281. Several employees became ill and reported this to Boeing. Id. Boeing included the new material in full production without improving ventilation in the work area, and workers again became ill. Id. The workers sued Boeing in federal court alleging that Boeing had a "deliberate intention to produce injury" so that the exception to IIA exclusivity applied. On certification of the question from the federal court, the Washington Supreme Court agreed that the workers had sufficient evidence to present the question to a jury. Id. at 865, 904 P2d at 285. In reaching that conclusion, the court announced a broader interpretation of the phrase "deliberate intention": "We hold the phrase 'deliberate intention' in RCW 51.24.020 means the employer had actual knowledge that an injury
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