N.C. Court of Appeals Upheld 2.7 Million Dollar Recovery
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N.C. Court of Appeals has upheld a 2.7 million dollar recovery against a general contractor in favor of the widow of a cement worker who fell through an unprotected hole on the second floor of a construction site.
The general contractor had argued that it had no control over the construction site on the day of the fall. Further, the general contractor contended that the negligence of leaving the hole uncovered was the fault of the workers’ employer, a cement sub-contractor.
In dismissing the arguments of the general contractor, the Court of Appeals held that the general contractor’s duty to maintain a safe work place, in this case, was “non-delegable.” That is, the law does not allow a general contractor to escape liability for injuries when inherently dangerous work is sub-contracted out to others.
The victim who died in the fall was an employee of a sub-contractor and was not an employee of the general contractor. The deceased victim was required to walk backwards while paying close attention to the concrete finishing work in front of him. He was working on the second floor when he backed into an 11’ x 3’ opening that had been left in the floor to accommodate machinery. The deceased worker fell through this opening onto the first floor and sustained fatal injuries to his head.
The Court of Appeals held that a jury could find that the work was inherently dangerous. Upon a finding that the work was inherently dangerous, the law held the general contractor at fault because the liability for inherently dangerous work cannot be delegated to another.
The family of the deceased worker, of course, had a claim against the workers’ employer, a cement sub-contractor. However, the claim could only be brought under the Workers Compensation law which has significant restrictions upon recovery. For instance, pain and suffering cannot be recovered in Workers Compensation cases.
By being allowed to pursue the claim against the general contractor, who was not the worker’s employer, the worker’s family can recover many damages that are not allowed under the Workers Compensation law.
In this case, the family recovered $735,000 in compensatory damages and $2 million in punitive damages against the general contractor.