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HARRELL v. PINELAND PLANTATION12/8/1997
William R. Harrell sued Pineland Plantation Company in negligence for injuries he sustained on Pineland's property. The trial court granted Pineland's motion to dismiss. Harrell appeals. We reverse and remand.
FACTS
Pineland Plantation Company, a California partnership, owns Pineland Plantation in Colleton County. Haynes Kendall, Pineland's general partner, maintains the plantation primarily for his family's personal enjoyment. Pineland contracted with Folk Land Management to oversee the plantation. Folk Land employed Harrell as the plantation's daily manager. His duties included identifying maintenance and upkeep needs, repairing equipment and machinery, managing timber and wildlife, and helping entertain plantation guests.
Harrell also assisted Pineland in developing a marketing plan focusing on renting the plantation. Pineland produced a brochure, but never widely distributed it. Nor has the plantation ever had a paying guest or realized any income from the undertaking.
On July 23, 1993, Kendall invited Harrell and his family to a dinner party with members of Harrell's extended family. In preparation for the party, Harrell checked on the activities of the handyman, scraped the driveway, and cleaned out the barbeque shed. He also made arrangements for the food.
As they waited for the out-of-town guests to arrive, Harrell and Kendall swam with their children in a pond on the property. Several times Kendall and Harrell each swung out over the pond from a rope tower and dropped into the water. During one jump Harrell broke his neck in a shallow area of the pond.
Harrell brought a workers' compensation claim against Folk Land. That claim resulted in a settlement agreement which was approved by the Workers' Compensation Commission.
Harrell then brought this negligence action against Pineland. The trial court granted Pineland's motion to dismiss, holding 1.) As Pineland's statutory employee, Harrell could not sue Pineland, because under the exclusivity provisions of the Workers' Compensation Act the court had no subject matter jurisdiction; and 2.) Harrell could not deny his activities were work-related because he had previously filed a workers' compensation claim against Folk Land.
ANALYSIS
The determination of whether a worker is a statutory employee is jurisdictional. We must "review the entire record and decide the jurisdictional facts in accord with the preponderance of the evidence." Glass v. Dow Chem. Co., 325 S.C. 198, 202, 482 S.E.2d 49, 51 (1997).
Harrell first argues Pineland cannot be his statutory employer because the plantation was not maintained as a "business," but was kept for Kendall's personal use and enjoyment.
In a leading case, the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania interpreted the word "business" to mean "the habitual or regular occupation that the party was engaged in with a view to winning a livelihood or some gain." Marsh v. Groner, 258 Pa. 473, 102 A. 127, 129 (1917). Since then, courts have "followed the example of that case in giving the word its ordinary and popular meaning." 4 Arthur Larson, Workers' Compensation Law ยง 50.22 (1997).
Although Pineland produced a rental brochure, it made no diligent effort to widely distribute the brochure or otherwise market the plantation. Furthermore, it has never entertained a paying guest. To the contrary, Kendall used the plantation almost exclusively for personal enjoyment. The one-time production of a brochure can hardly be enough to characterize Pineland as a business. Cf. Marsh 102 A. at 129 (activity which is not regular or habitual is not business).
Moreover, Kendall, Pineland's general
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