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Crews v. Hollenbach5/11/2000
Circuit Court for Prince George's County
A natural gas leak led to an explosion in Bowie, Maryland on 23 March 1996. As a result of the explosion, Lee James Crews, the foreman of a gas line repair team sent to the scene of the gas leak by his employer, Washington Gas Light Company (Washington Gas), was injured seriously. Mr. Crews and his wife, Theresa, (Petitioners) filed a complaint, sounding in negligence and strict liability, in the Circuit Court for Prince George's County seeking damages against numerous parties, Respondents here, claimed to have played roles in causing the gas leak. After ruling that Petitioners were barred from recovery by the principles of the doctrine of assumption of the risk, the Circuit Court granted summary judgment in favor of Respondents. The Court of Special Appeals affirmed. We granted Petitioners' request for a writ of certiorari to consider the following questions posed by Petitioners:
1) Did Petitioner, Lee James Crews, assume the risk of a gas explosion merely by virtue of his occupation?
2) Does Maryland apply the doctrine of primary assumption of the risk to employees of the gas company?
3) Does the doctrine of assumption of the risk apply to this matter?
4) Does the Petitioner benefit from the "rescue doctrine"?
FACTS
On 23 March 1996, John Hollenbach, Sr. (Hollenbach), an employee of Honcho & Sons, Inc. (Honcho), was excavating land located near 11405 Trillium Lane, Bowie, Maryland. Honcho was a sub-contractor of Excalibur Cable Communications (Excalibur). Excalibur was engaged by Maryland Cable Partners, L.P. (Maryland Cable) to carry out a cable installation project. The area that Hollenbach excavated was marked previously by Byers Engineering Company (Byers), pursuant to the "Miss Utility" statute, to facilitate the excavating contractor's avoidance of known buried utility lines.
Despite Byers' markers, Hollenbach struck a buried natural gas line owned by Washington Gas. The strike created a leak in the line. Neither Hollenbach nor anyone at the scene immediately contacted anyone regarding the leak, and natural gas released freely into the air and ground for a period of time. Two hours later, a resident, located approximately one mile from the leak, recognized the smell of gas in the air and notified the fire department. The governmental authorities evacuated the surrounding neighborhood. Washington Gas was contacted and dispatched a repair crew to the scene of the leak. Mr. Crews, a Washington Gas employee for over twenty years, was the foreman in charge of the crew. Upon arrival at the scene, Mr. Crews and his co-employees commenced the process of dissipating the gas that had permeated the ground. While he and his crew were engaged in closing off the leak, the gas ignited and an explosion occurred. Mr. Crews was injured severely. The cause of the spark that ignited the gas was unknown, but no allegation was made that Respondents were the cause of the ignition source.
PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND
On 1 August 1997, Petitioners filed a twenty-count complaint in the Circuit Court for Prince George's County against Respondents. The causes of action asserted by Mr. Crews ranged from various themes of negligence, including negligent hiring and negligent supervision, to strict liability for the abnormally dangerous activity of Respondents "shooting a hole in the vicinity of utility lines." Mrs. Crews joined her husband in a loss of consortium claim.
Excalibur filed a motion to dismiss on 3 November 1997. In the motion and accompanying memorandum, Excalibur argued that the doctrine of so-called "primary" assumption of the risk bar
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