Echols v. Zarn Inc.9/20/1994
ORR, Judge.
The sole issue on appeal is whether the trial court erred in granting defendants' motion for summary judgment. Defendants contend that the trial court properly granted summary judgment in their favor because plaintiff's sole remedy for this cause of action is found in the Workers' Compensation Act. Plaintiff contends, on the other hand, that she may maintain this action against her co-employee, Edith Barnett, pursuant to the holding in Pleasant v. Johnson, 312 N.C. 710, 325 S.E.2d 244 (1985) and against her employer, Zarn, Inc., pursuant to the holding in Woodson v. Rowland, 329 N.C. 330, 407 S.E.2d 222 (1991).
For the reasons stated below, we conclude that the plaintiff may not maintain her action against her co-employee, Edith Barnett, or her employer, Zarn, Inc., and that the trial court properly granted defendants' motion for summary judgment.
At the outset, we note our standard of review for summary judgment. Summary judgment is the device whereby judgment is rendered "if the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that any party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law." N.C.R. Civ. P. 56(c). "Summary judgment is proper when it appears that even if the facts as claimed by plaintiff are taken as true, there can be no recovery." Hudson v. All Star Mills, Inc., 68 N.C. App. 447, 450, 315 S.E.2d 514, 516, disc. review denied, 311 N.C. 755, 321 S.E.2d 134 (1984). "'In ruling on a motion for summary judgment the evidence is viewed in the light most favorable to the non-moving party.'" Martin Marietta Corp. v. Wake Stone Corp., 111 N.C. App. 269, 276, 432 S.E.2d 428, 433 (1993), disc. review denied, 335 N.C. 770, 442 S.E.2d 517, motion to dismiss appeal denied, 335 N.C. 770, 442 S.E.2d 517 (1994) (citation omitted).
In the present case, the undisputed evidence shows that Defendant Edith Barnett was a supervisory employee of Defendant Zarn, Inc. On the date of the accident, Barnett assigned plaintiff to operate a S-2 molding machine, which operation included removing plastic parts as they were produced by the machine. The molding machine was equipped with a safety gate, and when the gate was opened by the operator, the machine would shut off, thereby preventing the mold from closing. When the safety gate was closed, the machine would not shut off.
Plaintiff testified in her deposition that on the day of the accident, Barnett sent her to work on the S-2 molding machine to relieve another employee named Geraldine. When plaintiff arrived, Geraldine was still working at the machine. Plaintiff told Geraldine that she did not know how to run the machine, and Geraldine told her to open the safety gate and take the parts out. Plaintiff testified:
I kept telling Geraldine I didn't know how to run the machine. And she was trying to tell me how to do it. And I just couldn't comprehend it, you know. I just couldn't do it. And Edith [Barnett] come up. And there was parts everywhere because I would take them out, but I couldn't -- you know, I couldn't do it as fast as everybody else could do it.
Plaintiff testified that when Barnett came over to the machine she told Geraldine that if she did not leave, she would be put back to work. Geraldine left, and Barnett started showing plaintiff how to work the machine. Plaintiff testified that Ba
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