JAMES ROBERT HENDRICKS and SUSAN ELIZABETH HENDRICKS v. W E Y E R H A E U S E R C O M P A N Y

* The Honorable Glen M. Williams, United States District Judge for the Western District of
Virginia, sitting by designation.
NOT RECOMMENDED FOR FULL-TEXT PUBLICATION
File Name: 05a0587n.06
Filed: July 11, 2005
No. 04-5725
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE SIXTH CIRCUIT
JAMES ROBERT HENDRICKS and SUSAN
ELIZABETH HENDRICKS,
Plaintiffs-Appellants,
THE TRAVELERS INSURANCE COMPANY,
Intervening Plaintiff-Appellant,
v.
W E Y E R H A E U S E R C O M P A N Y ;
WILLAMETTE INDUSTRIES, INC.; and
S O U T H E R N I N D U S T R I A L
CONSTRUCTORS, INC.,
Defendants-Appellees.
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ON APPEAL FROM THE
UNITED STATES DISTRICT
COURT FOR THE WESTERN
DISTRICT OF KENTUCKY
BEFORE: KEITH, DAUGHTREY, Circuit Judges, and WILLIAMS,* District Judge.
PER CURIAM. Plaintiffs-Appellants James Robert Hendricks and his wife, Susan
Hendricks, sued Defendants-Appellees Willamette Industries, Inc., and Weyerhaeuser Company for
negligence seeking punitive damages for injuries sustained by Mr. Hendricks while employed by
Southern Industrial Constructors, Inc., a subcontractor of the Defendants. Plaintiff-Appellant
Travelers Insurance Company filed an intervening complaint seeking reimbursement of payments
made under its workers’ compensation insurance policy. Defendants-Appellants filed a third-party

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No. 04-5725
Hendricks et al. v. Weyerhaeuser Company et al.
Page 2
complaint against Third-Party Defendant-Appellee Southern Industrial Constructors, Inc., seeking
indemnity for costs related to this action. Upon a motion from the Defendants, the district court
granted summary judgment in favor of the Defendants. Plaintiffs appeal that decision.
Under the relevant Kentucky workers’ compensation statute:
If an employer secures payment of compensation as required by this chapter, the
liability of such employer under this chapter shall be exclusive and in place of all
other liability of such employer to the employee, his legal representative, husband
or wife, parents, dependents, next of kin, and anyone otherwise entitled to recover
damages from such employer at law or in admiralty on account of such injury or
death.
K.R.S. § 342.690(1). The exclusive liability provision also provides that “the term ‘employer’ shall
include a ‘contractor’ covered by subsection (2) of KRS 342.610.” Id. Under Section 342.610(2),
the law states:
A contractor who subcontracts all or any part of a contract and his carrier shall be
liable for the payment of compensation to the employees of the subcontractor unless
the subcontractor primarily liable for the payment of such compensation has secured
the payment of compensation as provided for in this chapter.
Id. § 342.610(2). Kentucky law, therefore, renders contractors with immunity from tort liability so
long as the subcontractor has workers’ compensation insurance. The district court, Judge Joseph
H. McKinley, Jr. presiding, held that Defendants were immune from suit because Willamette had
met the statutory requirements for contractor immunity under Kentucky’s workers’ compensation
law.
Having reviewed the parties’ briefs and the record before us on appeal, we have determined
that the district court was correct in granting summary judgment for the Defendants. The district
court clearly articulated its reasons for granting summary judgment, we therefore find that the

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No. 04-5725
Hendricks et al. v. Weyerhaeuser Company et al.
Page 3
issuance of a full written opinion by this court would be duplicative and serve no useful purpose.
Accordingly, we adopt the reasoning of the district court in its opinion dated May 20, 2004, and
AFFIRM the district court’s grant of summary judgment for the Defendants.

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