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Hooper v. Pizzagalli Construction Co.11/2/1993
The facts pertinent to this appeal are as follows: Defendant Pizzagalli, as general contractor, executed a contract for the construction of Anylan Towers, with the owner of Duke University Medical Center. Defendant West Durham executed a subcontract agreement to provide heating, ventilation and air conditioning with the general contractor, and defendant Acme executed a subcontract agreement to provide plumbing with the general contractor.
On 6 July 1988, twenty-four year old Mr. Timothy Hooper and twenty-one year old Mr. Jimmy Rigsbee, employees of Acme, were sent to the seventh floor interstitial area on the project site
to place a flange in a large valve. Unknown persons placed an unsecured scaffold board with the name "Comfort" painted on it across two I-beams leading to the duct installed by West Durham near the site of the valve. Mr. Hooper and Mr. Rigsbee performed their work thirteen feet above concrete, while standing on the scaffold board. Mr. Hooper and Mr. Rigsbee decided to work from the scaffold board in order to reach and tighten the bolts on the side of the valve opposite the uncompleted catwalk. There were no guardrails on the board and neither Mr. Hooper nor Mr. Rigsbee was secured.
Upon completion of the task, Mr. Rigsbee left the scaffold board and began to gather his tools on the solid concrete pad about twenty feet from the scaffold board. Mr. Hooper went back to the scaffold. Mr. Rigsbee looked up just as Mr. Hooper attempted to step off of the scaffold and onto the catwalk. At that time, the scaffold board began to slide and the board and Mr. Hooper began to fall. Mr. Hooper reached out and momentarily grabbed the metal toeboard of the catwalk. The toeboard bent and he rolled off, falling thirteen feet onto the concrete floor, landing on his back. Mr. Hooper was rushed to Duke Hospital where he was treated for severe head injury . He died on 8 July 1988.
The incident was reported to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) by Mr. Bob Carter, site superintendent for Acme. The scene of the fall was investigated by Mr. James Hall, a Safety Compliance Officer for OSHA, on 12 July 1988. At the Conclusion of the investigation, Acme was cited for three non-serious and four serious violations of OSHA and fined $540.00. On 3 July 1990, plaintiffs initiated this action for the wrongful death of the decedent.
By plaintiffs' first assignment of error, plaintiffs contend that the trial court committed reversible error by granting defendant Pizzagalli's motion for summary judgment because plaintiffs' forecast of evidence through pleadings, affidavits and depositions established the duty of defendant Pizzagalli and the subsequent breach of that duty which was the proximate cause of decedent's death.
The Courts of North Carolina have long recognized that a general contractor is not liable for injuries sustained by a subcontractor's employees. Woodson v. Rowland, 329 N.C. 330, 407 S.E.2d 222 (1991). North Carolina law provides that a general contractor does not have a duty to furnish a subcontractor or the subcontractor's
employees with a safe place in which to work. Brown v. Texas Company, 237 N.C. 738, 76 S.E.2d 45 (1953). Instead, it is the duty of the subcontractor to provide himself and his employees with a safe place to work and, also, to provide proper safeguards against the dangers of the work. Id.
However, North Carolina does recognize a few exceptions to the general rule of no liability. These exceptions are: (1) situations where the contractor retains control over the manner and metho
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