Halsey v. The Townsend Corporation of Indiana, No. 18-2908 (8th Cir. 2021)
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After Tyler S. Halsey suffered a heat stroke while working for Townsend Tree Service, his parents filed suit for wrongful death and negligence. The district court dismissed the claims against the supervisor with prejudice, dismissed the claims against Townsend Tree without prejudice, and granted summary judgment to the parent company, The Townsend Corporation of Indiana.
The Eighth Circuit affirmed, concluding that plaintiffs failed to allege that the supervisor breached a duty separate and distinct from the nondelegable duties of Townsend Tree. In this case, plaintiffs stress two allegations: (1) that the supervisor directed Halsey to continue working despite indications of heat exhaustion, and (2) that the supervisor disabled the air conditioning in the work trucks so Halsey could not escape the heat. Under Missouri law, the court concluded that both plaintiffs' allegations are within Townsend Tree's nondelegable duties to provide a safe workplace and equipment. Because plaintiffs' claims against the supervisor have no reasonable basis in fact or law, the case was properly removed to federal court.
The court further concluded that the district court properly dismissed Townsend Tree without prejudice and the district court did not err in applying the primary jurisdiction doctrine where the question of the cause of death was within the special competence of the Missouri Labor Industrial Relations Commission. Finally, the court concluded that the district court did not err in granting summary judgment to Townsend Corporation where it did not incur liability under either Restatement(Second) of Torts Sec. 324A(b) or 324A(c).
Court Description: [Benton, Author, with Shepherd and Grasz, Circuit Judges] Civil case - Torts. Under Missouri law, plaintiffs failed to establish that their deceased son's co-worker, defendant Richardson, breached a duty separate and distinct from the nondelegable duties of their employer, and, as the plaintiffs' claim against Richardson had no reasonable basis in fact or law, the district court properly found that he had been fraudulently joined, and the court did not err in denying the plaintiffs' motion to remand the matter to state court; the district court did not err in applying the primary jurisdiction doctrine to dismiss defendant Townsend Tree without prejudice, as the question of the cause of death was withing the special competence of the Missouri Labor Industrial Relations Commission; the district court did not err in granting summary judgment to Townsend Corporation as it did not incur liability under either Restatement(Second) of Torts Sec. 324A(b) or 324A(c).
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