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Maney v. Louisiana Pacific Corp.12/28/2000
APPEAL FROM: District Court of the Eighteenth Judicial District, In and for the County of Gallatin, The Honorable Thomas A. Olson, Judge presiding.
Argued: June 8, 2000
Submitted: July 19, 2000
Karen A. Maney (Maney) and the Louisiana Pacific Corporation (LP) appeal from the judgment entered by the Eighteenth Judicial District Court, Gallatin County, on its order granting summary judgment to Thomas B. Cheff, d/b/a T & S Cheff Logging (Cheff), and denying LP's motion for leave to file a cross-claim against Cheff. We affirm.
We address the following issues:
. Did the District Court err in granting summary judgment to Cheff based on its conclusion that the claims raised in Maney's complaint were barred by the exclusive remedy provision of Montana's Workers' Compensation Act?
. Did the District Court abuse its discretion in denying LP's motion for leave to file a cross-claim against Cheff?
BACKGROUND
Prior to the summer of 1994, Cheff contracted with LP to cut and remove timber owned by LP and located in the Mill Creek drainage in Park County, Montana. Cheff hired Jason Robert Fogleson (Fogleson) to assist in logging the timber. On July 8, 1994, while working for Cheff, Fogleson was injured by a falling tree; he died later that day. At the time of the accident, Fogleson was covered by workers' compensation insurance provided by Cheff.
Maney, Fogleson's mother, subsequently filed a complaint against Cheff and LP for damages resulting from Fogleson's death, asserting claims based on negligence, loss of consortium, negligent and intentional infliction of emotional distress, and violations of the Montana Safety Act. The complaint was filed by Maney individually, as personal representative of Fogleson's estate and as guardian ad litem of Fogleson's minor siblings. LP answered the complaint and asserted various affirmative defenses. Cheff moved to dismiss the complaint, arguing that Maney's claims were barred by the exclusivity provision of the Workers' Compensation Act (the Act) because Fogleson's injury and death were compensable under the Act. While Cheff's motion to dismiss was pending, LP moved the District Court for leave to amend its answer to assert a cross-claim against Cheff for indemnity and contribution.
The District Court heard arguments on both motions and, because Cheff had filed an affidavit in support of the motion to dismiss, converted that motion to one for summary judgment. The court concluded that all of Maney's claims were barred by the Act's exclusivity provision and granted summary judgment to Cheff on that basis. Based on its conclusion that the Act barred Maney's claims against Cheff, the court also denied LP's motion for leave to amend its answer to assert a cross-claim against Cheff.
Maney appeals from the District Court's order granting summary judgment to Cheff on her negligent and intentional infliction of emotional distress claims which were based on her seeing the severe injuries her son suffered and watching him die in the hospital. LP appeals from the court's denial of its motion for leave to amend.
DISCUSSION
. Did the District Court err in granting summary judgment to Cheff based on its conclusion that the claims raised in Maney's complaint were barred by the exclusive remedy provision of the Act?
We review a district court's grant of summary judgment using the same Rule 56, M.R.Civ.P., criteria applied by that court. Sherner v. Conoco, Inc., 2000 MT 50, 10, 298 Mont. 401, 10, 995 P.2d 990, 10. In that regard, summary judgment is appropriate only when no genuine issue of mat
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