 |
 |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Personal Injury Lawyers in your area.
|
|
|
|
|
Smith v. Johnson8/27/2001
This is a wrongful death case. A car crossed the center line and collided with a dump truck, causing the dump truck to strike and kill three pedestrians, including the plaintiff's wife and son. The plaintiff sued the driver of the car, the driver of the dump truck, and the company for which the dump truck driver was hauling asphalt. The trial court granted summary judgment in favor of the company, finding that the truck driver was an independent contractor. At trial, the jury found that the driver of the car was 100% at fault for the accident, and that the truck driver bore no fault in the accident. The plaintiffs did not move for a new trial. The plaintiff filed a notice of appeal. We affirm the trial court's grant of summary judgment to the company, finding that the liability of the company would be derived from the fault of the truck driver in the operation or maintenance of his dump truck, and that the company could not be held liable where the jury found that the truck driver bore no fault in the accident.
Tenn. R. App. P. 3 Appeal as of Right; Judgment of the Circuit Court is Affirmed.
Holly Kirby Lillard, J., delivered the opinion of the court, in which David R. Farmer, J. and Hewitt P. Tomlin, Jr. Sp . J., joined.
OPINION
This is a wrongful death case resulting from a tragic accident. On April 2, 1997, Jeff Henning ("Henning") was driving a dump truck that he owned and operated, headed northbound on Highway 14. Henning was hauling asphalt for Lehman-Roberts Company ("Lehman-Roberts"). As Henning approached the intersection of Highway 14 and Highway 206, he noticed a truck, being driven southbound by Arthur Johnson ("Johnson"), waiting to turn left onto Highway 206. Johnson's rear right brake light was working properly, but his rear left brake light was not. Eric May ("May") was driving his car southbound on Highway 14 when, apparently to avoid a collision with Johnson, May lost control of his car, veered into northbound traffic and collided with Henning's dump truck. As a result of the collision, Henning lost control of his dump truck and struck and killed three pedestrians: Margarette Wilkerson Smith and seven month- old, Jeremy Tyler Smith, the wife and son of plaintiff Thomas Lee Smith ("Smith"), as well as a child of Smith's neighbor.
Smith filed a lawsuit for wrongful death against Henning, Lehman- Roberts, May, and Johnson on behalf of himself and his minor daughter. Smith and May settled prior to trial. The trial court granted summary judgment to Lehman-Roberts on the basis that Henning was an independent contractor. Subsequently, a jury trial was held, with Henning and Johnson as the only remaining defendants. At the conclusion of the proof, the jury found that Henning and Johnson were not at fault, and that May was 100% at fault. Smith did not file a motion for a new trial, but instead filed a notice of appeal.
On appeal, Smith argues that the trial court erred in granting summary judgment to Lehman-Roberts. He contends that Henning should be deemed an employee of Lehman-Roberts, not an independent contractor, because of the degree of control that the company exercised over Henning's employment activities. Consequently, Smith argues that Lehman-Roberts should be held liable for Henning's actions pursuant to the doctrine of respondeat superior. In the alternative, Smith argues that the issue of whether Henning was an employee or an independent contractor should have been a fact question for the jury. Also pertaining to the potential liability of Lehman-Roberts, Smith argues that, even if Henning was an independent contractor, Lehman-Roberts had a duty to inspect his dump truck and maintain it under the "public service laws,
Page 1 2 3 Tennessee Personal Injury Attorneys
Personal Injury Lawyers
|
| |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Personal Injury Lawyers in your area.
|
|