MATHEWS CORP., A FLORIDA CORPORATION, APPELLANT,
v.
GARY D. PETERS, APPELLEE

Fla. 3d DCA | 1992-12-22
No. 92-1714
Before NESBITT, JORGENSON and LEVY, JJ.
610 So. 2d 111 Florida District Court of Appeal, Third District (1992) Positive Treatment
Cited by 2 cases

AI-generated. These summaries, headnotes, and key points are machine-generated and may contain errors or omissions. Always verify against the full opinion text below. Not legal advice.

Synopsis

Mathews Corp., a general contractor, appealed the denial of its motion for summary judgment claiming workers' compensation immunity from suit by an employee of its subcontractor who was injured on the job. The court reversed, holding that the subcontractor's workers' compensation insurance provided immunity to the general contractor absent a deliberate tort involving virtual certainty of injury.


Holding

The general contractor is entitled to workers' compensation immunity provided by the subcontractor's workers' compensation insurance unless the general contractor committed a deliberate tort requiring a deliberate intent to injure or conduct substantially certain to result in injury—a standard requiring virtual certainty, not mere strong probability. The alleged safety violations here did not meet that threshold.


Headnotes

[1] A general contractor is immune from suit by an injured employee of a subcontractor when the general contractor is required to secure workers' compensation insurance for t…

[2] Workers' compensation immunity for a general contractor does not apply if the general contractor committed a deliberate tort against the employee, defined as exhibiting a…

Previewing 2 of 4 headnotes on this case. FLexlaw’s editorially structured points of law — every proposition, pinpointed — are reserved for members.

Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence

Key Quotes

“The workers' compensation coverage carried by Sutter Roofing, the subcontractor, immunizes Mathews, the general contractor, from suit by Sutter's employee.”

Establishes the basic rule of workers' compensation immunity extending from subcontractor's insurer to general contractor

Previewing 1 of 3 key quotes on this case — the court’s exact language, pinpointed for members.

Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence

Facts & Procedural History

Gary Peters was an employee of Sutter Roofing, a subcontractor to Mathews Corp. Peters was injured when he fell through an open, unprotected skylight …

The full statement of facts, procedural history, and disposition for this case are member content.

Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence

© FLexlaw, Inc. — AI-generated enrichments are proprietary. All rights reserved.


Opinion of the Court
PER CURIAM.

PER CURIAM.

Mathews Corp., general contractor, appeals from a nonfinal order denying its motion for summary judgment on the ground that it was not entitled to workers’ compensation immunity.1 For the following reasons, we reverse.

Gary D. Peters was an employee of Sut-ter Roofing, subcontractor to Mathews Corporation, the general contractor. Sut-ter Roofing secured workers’ compensation insurance for its employees, as required by its contract with Mathews. Peters was injured during the course and scope of his employment when he fell through an open skylight while working on a roof that was under construction. Peters collected workers’ compensation benefits from his employer, Sutter Roofing, and also sued Mathews. His complaint against Mathews alleged that the skylight opening through which he fell was exposed and unprotected, and that by creating such a dangerous condition, Mathews violated safety standards and practices set forth in the South Florida Building Code and by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Peters further alleged that Mathews’ conduct was “intentional and with reckless disregard to the Plaintiff” and that “[djefendant knew that its conduct ... was substantially certain to result in injury as did occur to the plaintiff.”

Mathews moved for summary judgment on the ground that it was immune from suit under the workers’ compensation statute. The trial court denied the motion, and in doing so, erred.

The workers’ compensation coverage carried by Sutter Roofing, the subcontractor, immunizes Mathews, the general contractor, from suit by Sutter’s employee. See Reed v. Henry C. Beck Co., 510 So. 2d 613 (Fla. 3d DCA) (general contractor immune from suit by injured employee of subcontractor where general contractor required to carry workers’ compensation insurance or to ensure that such insurance is carried), rev. denied, 518 So. 2d 1277 (Fla.1987). That immunity would not apply if Mathews had committed a deliberate tort against Peters by exhibiting “a deliberate intent to injure” or engaging “in conduct which is substantially certain to result in injury or death.” Lawton v. Alpine Engineered Prod. Inc., 498 So. 2d 879, 880 (Fla.1986). See also Fisher v. Shenandoah Gen. Const. Co., 498 So. 2d 882 (Fla.1986). “This standard requires more than a strong probability of injury. It requires virtual certainty.” Lawton, 498 So. 2d at 880.

The facts alleged in this case and averred to in plaintiffs’ affidavits filed in opposition to the motion for summary judgment do not rise to that level, as the safety violations allegedly committed by defendant do not amount to conduct so outrageous as to constitute an intentional tort. Compare Connelly v. Arrow Air, Inc., 568 So. 2d 448, 451 (Fla. 3d DCA 1990) (where employer routinely overloaded and failed to maintain aircraft with known mechanical deficiencies, and withheld from employee information regarding defect or hazard that posed grave threat of injury, employer “will be considered to have acted in a ‘belief that harm is substantially certain to occur.’ ”), rev. denied, 581 So. 2d 1307 (Fla.1991), and Lawton, 498 So. 2d 879 (where employer ignored manufacturer’s warnings and failed to instruct employees of known danger of operating machinery, employer’s conduct did not constitute intentional tort, although complaint may have alleged pri-ma fade case of gross negligence).

Accordingly, we reverse the order denying Mathews’ motion for summary judgment, and remand for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.

. We have jurisdiction. See Mandico v. Taos Constr. Inc., 605 So. 2d 850 (Fla.1992) (amending Fla.R.App.P. 9.130(a)(3) to provide for review of nonfinal orders that determine that party is not entitled to workers’ compensation immunity as a matter of law). We conclude that the order on appeal is the type of order envisioned by the supreme court.


Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus


Citator

Cited By

  • Pinnacle Constr., Inc. v. Alderman, 639 So. 2d 1061 (Fla. 3d DCA 1994)
    …l standard for overcoming workers’ compensation immunity. See id.; see also Lawton v. Alpine Engineered Products, Inc., 498 So. 2d 879 (Fla.1986); General Motors Acceptance Corp. v. David, 632 So. 2d 123 (Fla. 1st DCA 1994); Mathews Corp. v. Peters, 610 So. 2d 111 (Fla. 3d DCA 1992). The individual defendants are entitled to workers’ compensation immunity on authority of Eller v. Shova, 630 So. 2d 637 (Fla.1993). The plaintiff relies on this court’s decision in Connelly v. Arrow Air, Inc., 568 So. 2d 448 (Fl…

Authorities Cited

Full citator, related cases, and AI research tools

Open in FLexlaw