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Ohio Casualty Insurance Co. v. Bailey
Citations: 814 So. 2d 889; 2001 Ala. Civ. App. LEXIS 584Docket: 2000528 and 2000628
Court: Court of Civil Appeals of Alabama; September 28, 2001; Alabama; State Appellate Court
Defendants Ohio Casualty Insurance Company and First Alabama Supply, Inc. (FAS) appeal a partial summary judgment favoring plaintiff Beverly Bailey, widow of Mark Bailey. Mark, employed by FAS and Vinyl Mark, Inc., was vice president of Vinyl Mark and had been instructed by FAS to work at a different location when he suffered fatal injuries in an accident. At the time of his death, both companies were insured under a workers’ compensation policy from Ohio Casualty, which included an endorsement excluding Mark from coverage as a vice president. Beverly filed for workers’ compensation death benefits, while Ohio Casualty contended that the endorsement and a prior waiver signed by Mark in 1995 barred her claim. Beverly countered that annual waivers were required under Ala.Code 25-5-50, and none were filed for 1999. The trial court addressed two key issues: 1) whether corporate officers must file annual written certifications to waive workers' compensation coverage, concluding they do, and 2) whether Mark was acting within the course of his employment at the time of the accident, denying summary judgment for both defendants on this issue. An order was made final for appeal under Alabama Rule of Civil Procedure 54(b) by mutual agreement of the parties. Ohio Casualty and FAS appealed, claiming the trial court erroneously granted summary judgment to Beverly and that their own summary judgment should have been granted on the basis that Mark's accident did not occur in the course of his employment. However, the denial of a motion for summary judgment is an interlocutory order and not appealable. According to Alabama law, an appeal can only be made from final judgments of the circuit court. Rule 54(b) allows for a final judgment on one or more claims when it is determined there is no just reason for delay, but not all orders are deemed final under this rule. The court emphasized that Rule 54(b) certifications should be exceptional and not routine. The trial court’s order regarding Mark’s accident did not resolve a claim as required by Rule 54(b) but merely indicated that Beverly could pursue her claim. Therefore, the Rule 54(b) certification was deemed erroneous, leading to the dismissal of the appeal for lack of jurisdiction. The judges concurred, and FAS adopted Ohio Casualty's briefs.