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3 judges overturn wrongful death award

An appellate court favors a business owner's decision that allowed an employee to drive the motorcycle on which he was killed.

By CATHERINE E. SHOICHET
Published December 31, 2005

The 5th District Court of Appeal has reversed a jury's decision to award damages in a wrongful death suit.

Shirley Ivey sued David M. Woodson, owner of Keepit-Safe Security Storage Systems in Crystal River, claiming Woodson's negligence caused her son, Christopher G. Tenner, to die in a 2002 motorcycle accident. A jury agreed, and in a final judgment issued last August Circuit Judge Patricia Thomas ordered Woodson to pay Tenner's family $343,622.40 to cover funeral expenses, loss of support and mental anguish.

But the appeals court ruled Friday that Woodson's decision to allow Ivey's son to drive his motorcycle was a managerial one, entitling him to immunity under Florida's Worker's Compensation Act.

Most of the evidence presented in the case was undisputed. But Ivey, an Inverness native and 2004 mayoral candidate, and Woodson disagreed on how that evidence should be interpreted.

On May 23, 2002, Tenner, 24, was helping unload items from a Keepit-Safe truck at a customer's home.

Woodson decided Tenner, who worked as a helper for Keepit-Safe, was no longer needed at the site and suggested that Tenner ride Woodson's motorcycle back to the company's office.

Tenner did not have a motorcycle endorsement on his driver's license, and the motorcycle was Woodson's personal vehicle and had not previously been used to transport employees.

According to the Florida Highway Patrol, Tenner was stopped at N Smith Terrace facing west when he suddenly shot forward onto County Road 491 near U.S. 41. He was struck by a Toyota pickup driving north on County Road 491. Tenner was flown to Tampa General Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Ivey filed a wrongful death suit against Woodson in December 2002, alleging that Woodson had a statutory duty to ensure that Tenner had a motorcycle endorsement before allowing him to operate the motorcycle.

She said his failure to do so was negligent and resulted in, or contributed to, Tenner's death.

The jury determined that even though Tenner's death occurred in the course of his employment at Keepit-Safe, Woodson's decision to allow him to use the motorcycle occurred outside of his managerial duties.

But the three-judge appellate court panel disagreed.

"With the backdrop of expansive immunity for employers and managers as the public policy of Florida, we have no difficulty concluding that Woodson's decision to have Christopher return to Keepit-Safe on a motorcycle was a managerial decision, albeit, a very poor one," District Judge Richard B. Orfinger wrote in the appellate ruling.

He added that mode of transportation Woodson chose was "incidental to the business purpose" of sending Tenner back.

Catherine E. Shoichet can be reached at cshoichet@sptimes.com or 860-7309.

[Last modified December 31, 2005, 00:47:16]