## Facts

- Three negligence suits were consolidated on appeal, arising from injuries on fixed offshore platforms on the Outer Continental Shelf off Louisiana.
- Plaintiffs invoked jurisdiction under the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (OCSLA), which applies the Longshoremen’s and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act (LHWCA) as the compensation scheme for covered platform injuries and incorporates adjacent state law (Louisiana) as surrogate federal law for negligence claims.
- Russel James Gaudet was hired by Tidelands Marine Service, Inc. but worked for years performing maintenance and repair work at Exxon’s West Delta Block 73 platform complex under Exxon field supervision.
- Gaudet injured his knee when struck by a barrel that fell from a rack while he was performing his regular platform duties.
- Over time, Exxon phased out other contractor personnel and kept Gaudet in a small crew working under Exxon foremen and a superintendent; he also trained contractor and Exxon personnel on safety-related work.
- Ruven St. Pierre was employed by Bourne Welding Services, Inc. and assigned to work on an Exxon platform.
- St. Pierre was injured when a chemical drum exploded during welding work.
- District courts granted summary judgment for Exxon (and, in St. Pierre’s later suit, certain Exxon supervisory employees), holding plaintiffs were Exxon “borrowed employees” and thus limited to LHWCA compensation.

## Issues

1. Whether, as a matter of law on undisputed facts, the plaintiffs were Exxon “borrowed employees” for LHWCA purposes as incorporated by OCSLA.
2. Whether LHWCA exclusivity barred the plaintiffs’ negligence claims against Exxon and, for St. Pierre, against Exxon supervisory employees.

## Decision

- The Fifth Circuit affirmed summary judgment in all consolidated cases.
- The court held that, on the undisputed record, Gaudet and St. Pierre were Exxon’s borrowed employees under the governing Fifth Circuit test.
- Because of borrowed-employee status, the LHWCA provided the exclusive remedy, barring negligence suits against Exxon and the named Exxon supervisors.
- The court rejected the contention that any single factor—such as the inter-company agreement—controlled the borrowed-employee inquiry.

## Legal Principles

- Under OCSLA, the LHWCA supplies the exclusive compensation remedy for covered injuries on fixed platforms on the Outer Continental Shelf; incorporated state negligence law is relevant only if tort claims are not barred by LHWCA exclusivity.
- Borrowed-employee status under the LHWCA is determined under the Ruiz line of cases using a non-exhaustive, totality-of-circumstances set of factors (including control, whose work is performed, agreements, tools and worksite, duration, right to discharge, and payment arrangements), with no single factor dispositive.
- When material facts relevant to borrowed-employee status are not genuinely disputed, the issue may be resolved on summary judgment.
- If a worker is a borrowed employee of the defendant, LHWCA exclusivity precludes negligence actions against the borrowing employer and forecloses parallel negligence claims against supervisory personnel arising from the same employment relationship and injury.

## Conclusion

The Fifth Circuit held that the plaintiffs’ long-term assignment and Exxon’s operational control established borrowed-employee status as a matter of law, making LHWCA benefits under OCSLA the exclusive remedy and requiring dismissal of their negligence suits on summary judgment.


Gaudet v. Exxon Corp., 562 F.2d 351 (5th Cir. 1977)