PREMISES LIABILITY: NON-DELEGABLE STATUTORY DUTIES
Padilla v. Pomona College, (2nd District, September 3, 2008) 166 Cal.App.4th 661, 82 Cal.Rptr.3d 869
An employee of a subcontractor who was demolishing water pipes in a dormitory basement was injured when a gusher or water from a broken pipe knocked him off a ladder. The plaintiff filed suit against the property owner as well as the general contractor, alleging that the defendants had violated common law and statutory duties to insure that there was no water pressure in the pipes in the area he was working. The plaintiff also contended that the defendants had failed to follow a Cal-OSHA regulation which required utilities to be shut off, capped, or otherwise controlled during demolition, or protected if use was necessary. (Cal.Code Regs. Title 8, section 1735)
The trial court granted the defendants’ motion for summary judgment under Privette v. Superior Court (1993) 5 Cal.4th 689, 21 Cal.Rptr.2d 72, finding that the defendants had fully delegated the task of providing a safe work environment to the plaintiff’s employer, and that the regulation did not impose a duty on the defendants independent of the retained control theory of liability.
The court of appeal affirmed, holding that regulation 1735(a) did not impose a non-delegable duty on the defendants:
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