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Morris v. Vaagen Bros. Lumber9/27/2005
JUDGES: Concurring: Dennis J. Sweeney Kenneth H. Kato
PUBLISHED OPINION - Opinion ordered published November 17, 2005
Global International PTE, Ltd. (Global), purchased the components of a sawmill from Vaagen Bros. Lumber, Inc. (Vaagen). The sawmill was located in Ione, Washington, and Global's intent was to ship the components to China for reassembly. Global hired E.P. Johnson Construction and Environmental, Inc. (E.P. Johnson) to disassemble and load the components for shipping. Mavis Morris, an employee of E.P. Johnson, was killed when a sawmill building collapsed while the equipment inside the building was being disassembled.
Ted Morris filed a wrongful death action on behalf of himself and the couple's adult children. The trial court granted summary judgment dismissing the claims against Global. On appeal, Mr. Morris contends there are material issues of fact as to whether: (1) Global had a duty to protect Ms. Morris as an invitee on its premises; (2) Global had a non-delegable statutory duty to provide a safe workplace and to comply with Washington Industrial Safety and Health Act (WISHA) regulations; and (3) Global had a common law duty to provide a safe workplace for E.P. Johnson's employees based on the theory of retained control.
We affirm the summary judgment order dismissing Mr. Morris's claims against Global.
FACTS
In November 1995, Global purchased the components of a sawmill from Vaagen.
The sawmill was located in Ione, Washington, and Global's intent was to ship the components to China for reassembly. Global retained E.P. Johnson to disassemble and load the components for shipping.
When disassembling equipment in the stacker building, employees of E.P. Johnson cut the equipment from work platforms that were attached to the walls of the building. No attempt was made to secure the walls of the stacker building during the disassembly of the equipment. On June 4, 1996, Mavis Morris was killed when the stacker building collapsed while equipment inside the building was being disassembled and removed.
This wrongful death action was filed on behalf of Ms. Morris's family and estate. Contract between Global and E.P. Johnson. The Disassembly Contract (the 'Contract') was entered into in May 1996 between Global as the owner of the equipment to be disassembled and E.P. Johnson as the contractor. The Contract defined the scope of work as follows:
Dismantle all machinery and buildings, that are shipping overseas. Tag, pack and load into containers provided by owner. Price includes a complete manifest for all material that is to be shipped. Machinery is to be properly braced inside container so as to not shift in transit. Project is to be complete, with the site restored as per the owners agreement with Vaagen Bros., within the deadlines set out.
Clerk's Papers (CP) at 43.
Under the Contract, E.P. Johnson was responsible for supervising and directing the disassembly work. Significantly, E.P. Johnson was 'solely responsible for all construction means, methods, techniques, sequences and procedures and for coordinating all portions of the work.' CP at 44. Moreover, E.P. Johnson was responsible for 'initiating, maintaining, and supervising all safety precautions and programs' related to the disassembly work. CP at 48.
E.P. Johnson's general manager, Michael Schaub, testified E.P. Johnson was responsible for complying with all WISHA requirements. Involvement of David Shih. Global planned to reassemble the sawmill equipment so that each piece held the same position it had in Ione. To achieve this goal, Global sent an employee, David Shih, f
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