# MasterBrand Cabinets, Inc. v. Ruggs

> Court of Civil Appeals of Alabama · April 13, 2007 · 10 So. 3d 1

URL: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/9653596

## Case

- **Full name:** MASTERBRAND CABINETS, INC., F/K/A NHB Industries, Inc. v. Nacola RUGGS
- **Court:** Court of Civil Appeals of Alabama
- **Decided:** April 13, 2007
- **Citations:** 10 So. 3d 1; 2007 Ala. Civ. App. LEXIS 252; 2007 WL 1098224
- **Precedential status:** Published
- **Opinion:** Concurrence by Pittman
- **Judges:** Bryan, Moore, Pittman, Thompson, Thomas
- **Cited by:** 3 later opinions in the Frix Law Library

## Citator (automated)

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- Full citator and citing cases: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/9653596

## Opinion text

PITTMAN, Judge,
concurring specially.
Section 25-5-8(e), Ala.Code 1975, a part of the Alabama Workers’ Compensation Act, provides that “an employer required to secure the payment of compensation ... who fails to secure the compensation shall be liable for two times the amount of compensation which would have otherwise been payable for injury or death to an employee.” In this case, Ruggs sought in her complaint “[s]uch benefits as she [wa]s entitled to receive under the Worker’s Compensation Laws of the State of Alabama,” a body of law that includes § 25-5-8(e), yet the trial court did not award Ruggs a penalty in accordance with § 25-5-8(e) as a component of its May 20, 2004, judgment. Because Ruggs neither timely sought postjudgment relief nor appealed from that judgment, I must conclude that Ruggs’s claim for benefits under Alabama’s workers’ compensation laws has been brought to a final conclusion on its merits (having been fully merged into the May 20, 2004, judgment), and all other claims Ruggs might have asserted against MasterBrand that arise out of her workplace injury, including her penalty claim under § 25 — 5—8(e), are barred by the doctrine of res judicata. Equity Res. Mgmt., Inc. v. Vinson, 723 So.2d 634, 636 (Ala.1998). I therefore concur in the main opinion.

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Source: Frix Law Library, https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/9653596. Public record. Not legal advice.