Worker who suffered injury due to fall sues based on negligence, premises liability
An injured employee and his coworkers would have recognized that it was unsafe to walk on the access panel of a crawl space if they inspected the premises for safety issues, the California Court of Appeal recently said.
In 2018, DMP 250 Newport Center, LLC hired Air Control Systems, Inc. (ACS) as an independent contractor to maintain and to service its heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) equipment. ACS employed the plaintiff as a project manager.
One day, DMP’s property manager told the plaintiff that one of the building’s suites was not receiving sufficient airflow. She informed him that the HVAC units were on the roof along with the rooftop access point into the crawl space.
The plaintiff and three other ACS employees went to the crawl space, which was well-lit, and stayed there for about 10 to 20 minutes. The plaintiff was almost standing, while the other men were mostly positioned on their hands and knees.
The plaintiff ended up falling through the access panel into a storage room. The fall caused him significant injury. He sued DMP based on negligence and premises liability.
DMP filed a summary judgment motion. It cited the case of Privette v. Superior Court (1993), which limited a property owner’s potential liability for on-the-job injuries suffered by an independent contractor’s employees.
Read more: If you hire independent contractors, you need to know the Privette...
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