Conner v. Ogletree

Summary

The Missouri Supreme Court consolidated two appeals involving employees who sued co-employees for workplace injuries. The Court held that the plaintiffs could not proceed because the alleged negligence involved breaches of the employer’s nondelegable duty to provide a reasonably safe workplace, rather than duties separate and distinct from that obligation. The Court affirmed summary judgment for the co-employees.

Holdings

1. For workplace injuries occurring between 2005 and 2012, a co-employee may be liable in common-law negligence only if the co-employee breached a duty unrelated to employment or breached the employer's workplace-safety duty in a manner involving a risk that was not reasonably foreseeable to the employer. A co-employee's negligent performance of responsibilities encompassed by the employer's nondelegable duty to provide a reasonably safe workplace is not a breach of a separate and distinct duty.
2. Conner failed to allege a breach of a duty separate and distinct from Intercounty's nondelegable duty to provide a reasonably safe workplace. The risks associated with an energized power line and the negligent failure to de-energize, confirm de-energization, warn, follow safety rules, or supervise were reasonably foreseeable to the employer, so summary judgment for Kidwell and Ogletree was proper.
3. Evans failed to allege a breach of a duty separate and distinct from Wilco's nondelegable duty to provide a reasonably safe workplace. Injuries involving moving forklifts were reasonably foreseeable to Wilco, including injury caused by negligent forklift operation, so summary judgment for Barrett was proper.

Questions Presented

1. Whether Conner's negligence claims against co-employees alleged a breach of a duty separate and distinct from the employer's nondelegable duty to provide a reasonably safe workplace.
2. Whether Evans's negligence claim against a co-employee for negligent forklift operation alleged a breach of a duty separate and distinct from the employer's nondelegable workplace-safety duty.
3. How the reasonably foreseeable-risk limitation defines the scope of an employer's nondelegable duty in common-law co-employee negligence actions for workplace injuries occurring between 2005 and 2012.

Disposition

affirmed