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Oral Arguments before the Intermediate Court of Appeals

No. 28742 – Wednesday, August 11, 2010 at 10:15 a.m.

GARY SUZUKI, Plaintiff-Appellant,  v. CASTLE & COOKE RESORTS; JOHN DOES 1-10, JANE DOES 1-10; DOE CORPORATIONS 1-10; DOE PARTNERSHIPS 1-10; DOE ASSOCIATIONS 1-10; DOE GOVERNMENTAL AGENCIES 1-10; DOE NON-PROFIT ENTITIES 1-10; and DOE ENTITIES 1-10, Defendants-Appellees.

Attorney(s) for Plaintiff-Appellant
T.J. Lane

Attorney(s) for Defendant-Appellee
Randall Y.S. Chung and Milton S. Tani (Matsui Chung) for Castle & Cooke Resorts, LLC

COURT:    Nakamura, CJ; Foley and Fujise, JJ.

SPECIAL NOTE:    The above argument will take place in the Supreme Court courtroom on the Second Floor of Aliiolani Hale, 417 South King Street, Honolulu, Hawaii.

[ Listen to the entire audio recording in mp3 format ]

Brief description:

Plaintiff-Appellant Gary Suzuki appeals from the August 15, 2007 judgment of the Circuit Court of the Second Circuit, granting Defendant-Appellee Castle & Cooke Resorts’ “Motion to Dismiss for Failure to State a Claim and/or Motion for Summary Judgment.”  Appellant claimed that he was working on a masonry team from Appellee’s wholly-owned subsidiary Lanai Builders,  when the brakes of a truck, owned and maintained by Appellee, failed and the truck rolled into him.  Appellant received workers’ compensation benefits from Lanai Builders.

Appellee argues that it was Appellant’s employer and therefore entitled to immunity under Hawaii Revised Statutes § 386-5, the exclusive remedy provision of Hawaii’s workers’ compensation law.  Appellant argues that Appellee was not his “statutory employer” under Frank v. Hawaii Planning Mill Foundation, 88 Hawaii 140 (1998), and did not gain immunity when Castle & Cooke, Inc. purchased the master workers’ compensation insurance policy for its subsidiaries, including Appellee and Lanai Builders.