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Bath Excavating & Construction Co. v. Wills3/15/1993
e that a public safety worker rule would encompass a Water Systems Operator whose primary duty is to repair ruptured water lines.
C.
The Scope of the Public safety Worker Rule
In the present case, Wills' supervisor, Terry Popejoy (Popejoy), testified that Wills was a Water Systems Operator, and that water systems operators' job responsibilities are to perform manual repair work on water lines. Popejoy testified that private persons who rupture water lines are legally required to seek the assistance of the City in repairing the line. Popejoy also testified that water systems operators receive training regarding the hazards of excavation of sites, including shoring school, certification testing, and other classes.
Wills' primary public duty, as a Water Systems Operator employed by the City of Fort Collins, is to confront the dangers posed by repairing ruptured water lines. Like fire fighters, employees sharing Wills' public duties are the only parties on whom private persons can rely to repair such lines. In this context, a water systems operator performs a vital and unique role. A public safety worker rule should govern the facts of this case and relieve Bath Excavating from liability, as owing no duty to Wills.
The majority, however, concludes that, based on these facts, Bath Excavating owes Wills a common-law duty "to act with reasonable care to avoid injury in excavating to lay water lines." Maj. op. at 16. This Conclusion imposes liability on landowners under all circumstances where the landowner must rely on the assistance of a public safety worker to respond to an emergency on private land. The public safety worker is summoned precisely for the reason that an emergency exists, and, after arrival, the public safety worker assumes control over the affected private property. The landowner may then be liable for any injuries the public safety worker sustains while on private land. The majority's Conclusion prevents this court from examining whether Colorado should adopt a public safety worker rule.
II.
Accordingly, I Dissent and would reverse the court of appeals, and remand the case with instructions to reinstate the district court order granting summary judgment in favor of Bath Excavating.
I am authorized to say that CHIEF JUSTICE ROVIRA joins in this Dissent.
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