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Romero v. Kansas City Station Corporation3/4/2003
Opinion Vote: REVERSED AND REMANDED.
Smart and Hardwick, JJ., concur.
Opinion:
Anthony Romero appeals from the summary judgment of the Circuit Court of Clay County for the respondent, Kansas City Station Corporation, on the appellant's negligence claim for damages for personal injuries he allegedly sustained as a result of a slip and fall at the respondent's casino complex while he was employed as a route driver and deliveryman for Excel Linen Service (Excel). Summary judgment was sought by the respondent and granted by the trial court on the basis that the court lacked subject matter jurisdiction over the appellant's claim in that, in accordance with section 287.040.1, the appellant was deemed a statutory employee of the respondent, and, therefore, his only recovery for his injuries was under the Missouri's Workers' Compensation Law (WCL), Chapter 287, vesting exclusive jurisdiction over the appellant's claim in the Industrial and Labor Relations Commission (Commission).
The appellant raises two points on appeal. In Point I, he claims that the trial court erred in granting summary judgment to the respondent on the appellant's claim for damages for personal injuries, based on its conclusion that the court lacked subject matter jurisdiction, which conclusion was based on the court's factual finding that the appellant was a statutory employee of the respondent, under section 287.040.1, vesting exclusive jurisdiction of the appellant's claim in the Commission, because the court's finding that the appellant was a statutory employee of the respondent was not supported by the undisputed facts alleged in the respondent's motion. In Point II, he claims that the trial court erred in failing to grant him a continuance on the respondent's motion for summary judgment to allow him additional time for discovery, as provided in Rule 74.04(c)(2), because the appellant did not have sufficient time to conduct the discovery necessary to adequately respond to the issues required to be decided in ruling on the respondent's motion for summary judgment.
We reverse and remand.Facts On the day he was injured, the appellant was employed by Excel as a route driver and deliveryman. At the time, Excel was a party to a rental agreement with the respondent, pursuant to which Excel provided and laundered linens required by the hotel, restaurants, and other facilities located in the Station Casino complex, owned by the respondent. The appellant's duties included delivering and unloading clean linens to the restaurants and hotel located in the complex, as well as picking up dirty linens and delivering them to Excel's facilities for cleaning. The hotel and restaurants at the casino complex constituted the appellant's only route as a driver and deliveryman, requiring two to three trips a day to the complex, six days a week.
On the morning of March 31, 1998, the appellant made a stop at Pancho Villa's, one of the restaurants in the casino complex, to change out the linens. He loaded up a gondola with dirty linens and pushed it out through the swinging doors leading into a hallway shared by Pancho Villa's and the other restaurants in the complex. Once in the hallway, he slipped and fell in a pool of grease, severely injuring his right knee. The injury required two surgeries, causing the appellant to miss 127 days of work and ultimately leading to his termination by Excel.
The appellant filed a Workers' Compensation claim for the knee injury he sustained in the fall at the casino complex and eventually received $22,000 in benefits. On May 12, 2000, after he had been terminated by Excel, the appellant filed a petition in the Circuit Court of Clay County for dam
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