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Enriquez v. Cochran7/30/1998
Certiorari denied No. 25,365, October 13, 1998
Filing Date: July 30, 1998
APPEAL FROM THE DISTRICT COURT OF EDDY COUNTY James L. Shuler, District Judge
{1} In 1992 Ernest Ray Enriquez (Plaintiff) was severely injured when the top twenty feet, or so, of a tree he was helping to cut down broke off and fell on him. He brought suit against Larry P. Cochran (Cochran) one of the persons helping with the tree felling, and against the Boy Scouts of America, Inc. (BSA). The jury assigned seventy-five percent of the fault for Plaintiff's injuries to BSA and divided the remaining twenty-five percent of fault between Plaintiff (ten percent) and his employer, the Conquistador Council of Boy Scouts of America (fifteen percent).
{2} BSA appeals, asserting that the trial court erred when it: (1) struck certain of BSA's affirmative defenses as a discovery sanction; (2) granted Plaintiff's motion to amend his complaint to conform to the evidence; (3) failed to hold as a matter of law that BSA was Plaintiff's statutory employer and thus immune from tort liability under the exclusive remedy provisions of the New Mexico Workers' Compensation Act (WCA) NMSA 1978, 52-1-1 to -70 (1929, as amended through 1993); (4) refused certain of BSA's requested jury instructions while giving certain of Plaintiff's requested jury instructions; and (5) admitted evidence regarding use of hard hats and a tree felling death which occurred after Plaintiff's injury .
{3} Plaintiff cross appeals asserting the trial court erred in: (1) failing to impose joint and several liability on BSA because felling large trees is an inherently dangerous activity and BSA retained sufficient control over local activities, including scout camp maintenance, that joint and several liability is appropriate as a matter of public policy; (2) directing a verdict against Plaintiff on his punitive damages claim against BSA; (3) refusing Plaintiff's proposed form of special verdict; and (4) failing to require BSA to post a supersedeas bond pending appeal. In addition, Plaintiff appeals from the verdict against Cochran based on assertedly improper references to Cochran's financial status during the closing arguments.
{4} We affirm as to all issues raised by BSA in its appeal. On Plaintiff's cross-appeal we reverse as to the joint and several liability issue and affirm on the remainder. We reverse Plaintiff's appeal with regard to Cochran.
FACTS AND PROCEEDINGS
{5} Because of the complexity of the factual and procedural history of certain issues, this section of the opinion will identify the parties in the case and other actors involved in the occurrence, as well as provide a description of the occurrence itself. Background appropriate to explain our decision with regard to particular issues will accompany specific Discussions.
I. The Parties
{6} At the time of his injury , Plaintiff was a professional scouter employed by the Conquistador Council (Council) as a district executive. It is undisputed that he was acting within the course and scope of his employment when he was injured. Thus, Plaintiff's injury was covered by the WCA, and Plaintiff received worker's compensation benefits, including medical care and disability payments. Under the exclusive remedy provisions of the WCA, the Council was immune from suit in tort, and thus is not a named party. However, the Council was included on the special verdict form as an entity potentially bearing some responsibility for Plaintiff's injuries, thus allowing the jury to assign a percentage of comparative fault to it.
{7} The Council is a New Mexico non-profit entity incorporated under articl
Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 New Mexico Personal Injury Attorneys
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