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Johnson v. Centex Forcum Lannom11/7/2000
This appeal arises from an injury by Worker who fell through a hole in the roof while working on a construction site. Worker brought suit against the Owner, the General Contractor and Builder, who through its construction of precast concrete panels had created the hole. The trial court granted Owner and General Contractor summary judgment on the basis that both were acting in the capacity of a general contractor and were thus exempt from suit under the workers' compensation statutes. Builder, even through it no longer had control of the area where Worker was injured, was denied summary judgment on the basis that OSHA regulations created a non-delegable duty to prevent injuries. We affirm the trial court's granting of summary judgment to Owner and General Contractor. We reverse the trial court's denial of summary judgment for Builder, finding that OSHA regulations do not create a duty for Builder.
Tenn. R. App. P. 9 Interlocutory Appeal; Judgment of the Circuit Court Affirmed in part; Reversed in part; and Remanded
David R. Farmer, J., delivered the opinion of the court, in which W. Frank Crawford, P.J., W.S. and Franklin Murchison, Sp . J., joined.
OPINION
In 1996, Tyson Foods, Inc. (Tyson) began construction of a poultry food products plant in Obion County, Tennessee. It contracted with several other companies to complete various tasks at the plant, as well as planning to do some work "in-house." Among those companies contracted to work on the site was Centex Forcum Lannom, Inc. (Centex), which was acting as a general contractor on the construction of the poultry processing facility. Centex hired J.E. Campbell (Campbell) as a sub-contractor to complete necessary work on the project site. Also working on the site was Coreslab Structures (Okla), Inc. (Coreslab). Coreslab was to erect precast concrete panels on the site under a separate contract with Tyson.
While Coreslab was completing its work, it was discovered that the erection of the panels left several dangerous holes in the roof. As the holes were destined to be filled by equipment during the construction, they required a temporary cover to make the area safe. Communication between Tyson, Coreslab and Centex revealed that the covering of these holes was not addressed in any contract. While Tyson did request the holes to be covered, both the date of the request and whether Tyson initially directed Coreslab or Centex to perform the assignment is disputed. It is undisputed, however, that Coreslab finished its installation work on the roof and turned control of the area over to Centex and/or Tyson. At some point after the turnover date, Donnie Wayne Johnson, Jr., an employee of Campbell, fell through one of these holes onto the concrete 30 feet below, suffering serious injuries.
After his injuries, Mr. Johnson filed suit against Tyson, Centex, and Coreslab. Tyson and Centex both filed motions for summary judgment on the basis that they were acting in the capacity of a general contractor at the site, and were thus immune from liability under the workers' compensation statutes. Coreslab also filed a motion for summary judgment, arguing that it owed no duty to Mr. Johnson, was not the proximate cause of his injury, and/or any duties that were owed to Mr. Johnson had been delegated or transferred by Coreslab to other parties. The trial court granted both the Tyson and Centex motions for summary judgment. The trial court denied the motion of Coreslab, citing OSHA regulations which the court believed created a non-transferable duty. Coreslab filed a motion for an interlocutory appeal of the court's denial of its motion. Mr. Johnson filed a motion for an interlocutory appeal of the court's gr
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