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CASO v. NIMROD PRODUCTIONS, INC.
163 Cal.App.4th 881 (2008)
CHRISTOPHER CASO et al., Plaintiffs and Appellants,
v.
NIMROD PRODUCTIONS, INC., et al., Defendants and Respondents.
No. B198347.
Court of Appeals of California, Second District, Division Seven.
May 14, 2008.
McNicholas & McNicholas, John P. McNicholas, Robert P. Wargo; and Joshua M. Merliss for Plaintiffs and Appellants.
Law Office of Thomas H. Edwards and Thomas H. Edwards for Defendants and Appellants.
OPINIONPERLUSS, P. J. Christopher Caso and his wife Anna Marie Caso appeal from the judgment entered in their personal injury action after the trial court granted summary judgment in favor of Peter O'Fallon, Merritt Yohnka and Randy Hall, as well as their respective loan-out corporations Ryan Productions, Inc. (RPI), Merritt Yohnka, Inc. (MYI), and Nimrod Productions, Inc. (NPI). The trial court ruled the Casos' claims were barred by workers' compensation exclusivity. We affirm. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND1. The Accident and the Lawsuit Christopher Caso, a professional stuntman, suffered severe head injuries while performing a stunt for a television show called M.D.'s, a program produced in 2002 by Touchstone Television Productions (Touchstone). Following the accident, the Casos sued O'Fallon, Yohnka and Hall, as well as RPI, MYI and NPI. Caso asserted claims for negligence; Anne Marie Caso alleged loss of consortium.1 According to the allegations in the complaint, the stunt Caso performed required him to fall through a scored drywall ceiling onto a collapsible gurney and crash pad. Yohnka, who was scheduled to be the stunt coordinator for the stunt, advised Caso and Touchstone a few days in advance that, due to an unforeseen scheduling conflict, he would be unavailable the date the stunt was to be performed. Pursuant to Yohnka's recommendation, Yohnka was replaced by Hall. On the day of the stunt, Hall and O'Fallon refused Caso's request to drill a hole in the ceiling and failed to ensure the center of the crash pad was properly placed. The crash pads, which had been provided by Yohnka, were also poorly maintained. Because of Yohnka's, Hall's and
O'Fallon's failure to prepare properly for the stunt, the Casos alleged, Caso fell to the ground at an improper angle, missing part of the crash pad and slamming his head on the ground.
1. The Casos also named Paul Marks, Chris Delia Pena, Bill Doane, Alex Felix, Tommy Roysden and Touchstone as defendants in the lawsuit. Those defendants have since been dismissed. None is a party to this appeal. 2. Labor Code section 3601, subdivision (a), provides, "Where the conditions of compensation set forth in Section 3600 concur, the right to recover such compensation, pursuant to the provisions of this division is, except as specifically provided in this section, the exclusive remedy for injury or death of an employee against any other employee of the employer acting within the scope of his or her employment, except that an employee, or his or her dependents in the event of his or her death, shall, in addition to the right to compensation against the employer, have a right to bring an action at law for damages against the other employee, as if this division did not apply, in either of the following cases: [¶] (1) When the injury or death is proximately caused by the willful and unprovoked physical act of aggression of the other employee, [¶] (2) When the injury or death is proximately caused by the intoxication of the other employee."
Statutory references are to the Labor Code. 3. For purposes of the consolidated summary judgment motions only, Caso did not dispute he was an employee of Touchstone. 4. O'Fallon was the president and sole owner of RPI; Yohnka was the president and sole owner of MYI; Hall was the president and sole owner of NPI. 5. O'Fallon is a member of the Directors Guild of America. His employment agreement incorporated the daily rate provided in the standard Directors Guild agreement. Yohnka and Hall are members of the Screen Actors Guild. Their employment agreements with Touchstone incorporated a standard Screen Actors Guild "three day or weekly player's agreement," subject to the provisions of the collective bargaining agreement between the Screen Actors Guild and the producers.
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