Title: Broadway v. Blythe Industries, Inc.
Citation: 326 S.E.2d 266
Docket Number: 577A84
State: north-carolina
Issuer: north-carolina Supreme Court
Date: February 27, 1985

326 S.E.2d 266 (1985)
James A. BROADWAY, Administrator of the Estate of Phillip Thompson
v.
BLYTHE INDUSTRIES, INC., Reliance Universal, Inc. of Ohio, d/b/a Carolina Concrete Pipe Company, the City of Charlotte, North Carolina and Lisk, Inc.
No. 577A84.

Supreme Court of North Carolina.
February 27, 1985.
*268 Chambers, Ferguson, Watt, Wallas &amp; Adkins by James E. Ferguson II, Charlotte, for plaintiff-appellant.
Golding, Crews, Meekins, Gordon &amp; Gray by Frederick C. Meekins and Henry C. Byrum, Jr., and Henry T. Drake, Wadesboro, for Howard Lisk, Inc., defendant-appellee.
MARTIN, Justice.
On or about 10 January 1982, five-year-old Phillip Thompson was crushed to death when a large concrete storm drainage pipe, weighing approximately eighteen hundred pounds and measuring approximately four feet in length, rolled over him as he and other young children played about the pipes. This pipe and others had been delivered on or about 31 December 1981 by Howard Lisk, Inc. ("Lisk"), a common carrier, to the construction site across the street from the public housing project where Phillip lived. Employees of Lisk's unloaded the pipes from their truck by use of a hydraulic lift on the rear of the truck. While they were unloading, Todd Bowman, an employee of Blythe Industries, Inc. ("Blythe"), the general contractor for the construction project, was also present. The pipes were unloaded onto sloping ground. The evidence is conflicting as to whether the pipes were chocked or secured to prevent them from rolling once they were unloaded.
Many children lived across the street from the construction site. Diane Pridgen, a woman living nearby, testified that she observed the people unloading the pipes at the end of December 1981: "I noticed that the men had done nothing to secure the pipes. As they started to leave, I told them there were children here and weren't they going to do anything to secure the pipes. They just looked at me and drove off." Todd Bowman also testified that there were "[k]ids everywhere.... They were run off the pipe when the pipe was unloaded and told not to get back on it." Asked why he ran the children off the pipe, Mr. Bowman answered: "Because it was dangerous to be up on pipe like that." Ms. Pridgen also testified that: "From [the] time [the pipes were delivered] until the time Phillip Thompson was injured by one of those same pipes on Saturday, January 9, 1982, there was nothing placed [around or near the pipes] by anyone to keep them from rolling. After Thompson was injured, the pipes were secured by some wooden stakes."
The sole issue in this negligence case is whether summary judgment was properly entered for defendant Lisk. We have determined that the Court of Appeals erroneously affirmed the summary judgment and, accordingly, reverse.
The law is succinctly stated in Bone International, Inc. v. Brooks, 304 N.C. 371, 375, 283 S.E.2d 518, 520 (1981):
The standard for summary judgment is fixed by Rule 56(c) of the North Carolina Rules of Civil Procedure. The judgment sought shall be rendered forthwith if the pleadings and other materials before the trial judge show that there is no genuine issue of material fact and that any party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law. Kessing v. Mortgage Corp., 278 N.C. 523, 180 S.E.2d 823 (1971). In the present case, the defendant, as the moving party, must prove that an essential element of plaintiff's claim is nonexistent or show that a forecast of plaintiff's evidence indicates an inability to prove facts giving rise at trial to all essential elements of his claim.
Plaintiff's cause of action against Lisk rests on the so-called "attractive nuisance" rule which was explained in Briscoe v. Lighting and Power Co., 148 N.C. 396, 411, 62 S.E. 600, 606 (1908):
Accord Green v. Duke Power Co., 305 N.C. 603, 609, 290 S.E.2d 593, 597 (1982). See generally W. Keeton, Prosser and Keeton on The Law of Torts § 59 (1984).
As set forth in Restatement (Second) of Torts § 339 (1965), generally the elements of an action based on a theory of attractive nuisance are as follows:
See Green v. Duke Power Co., 305 N.C. 603, 290 S.E.2d 593. See also 9 Strong's N.C.Index 3d Negligence § 51 (1977).
Although Lisk was not a possessor of the construction site, it still can be held liable under the attractive nuisance *270 rule. As the Supreme Court of Connecticut explained:
Duggan v. Esposito, 178 Conn. 156, 159-60, 422 A.2d 287, 289 (1979) (subcontractor who left pipes on truck in driveway at construction site liable for injury of child hurt by pipes). See also Butler v. Porter-Russell Corporation, 217 So. 2d 298 (Fla. 1968). In the instant case there is no evidence controverting Diane Pridgen's statement in her affidavit that she told the men who delivered the pipes that there were children nearby and that they should therefore secure the pipes. For the purpose of determining whether summary judgment was properly entered for Lisk, we must assume that Lisk knew that children were nearby and that they would likely play on the pipes.
For Lisk to be entitled to summary judgment in the present lawsuit, Lisk must establish either (1) that an essential element of plaintiff's claim is nonexistent, or (2) that plaintiff cannot produce evidence to support an essential element of his claim. E.g., Brown v. Fulford, 311 N.C. 205, 316 S.E.2d 220. The essential elements of a claim for damages for wrongful death based on a theory of attractive nuisance are set forth above. We are satisfied that plaintiff has brought forward sufficient evidence to support every essential element of his claim.[1] This evidence tends to show, inter alia, that Lisk placed the pipes on an incline within the construction site some five to fifteen feet from the edge of a street on which, on the other side, stands a housing project; that Lisk was warned that there were children nearby and that they would likely play on the pipes; that unsecured pipes of the size and weight left at the site by Lisk involved an unreasonable risk of death or serious bodily harm to children who might play on them; that children would not realize the risk of becoming hurt by playing on the pipes; that the pipes could easily have been secured from playing children; and that Lisk failed to exercise reasonable care to eliminate the danger or otherwise to protect the children.[2] We hold that this forecast of the *271 evidence discloses genuine issues of material facts which require resolution by a jury. Kessing v. Mortgage Corp., 278 N.C. 523, 180 S.E.2d 823. Therefore, for this reason it was error to enter summary judgment in favor of Lisk. See Butler v. Porter-Russell Corporation, 217 So. 2d 298 (error to enter summary judgment in favor of builder, trucker who delivered concrete blocks, and materialman who supplied blocks, which blocks fell on trespassing child).
Lisk also argues that plaintiff is prevented from recovering from it because the negligence of defendant Blythe Industries, Inc. in failing to secure the pipes insulated Lisk from liability. In order for the conduct of Blythe to break the sequence of events and stay the operative force of the negligence of Lisk, the intervening conduct must be of such nature and kind that Lisk had no reasonable ground to anticipate it. Riddle v. Artis, 243 N.C. 668, 91 S.E.2d 894 (1956). Accord McNair v. Boyette, 282 N.C. 230, 192 S.E.2d 457 (1972); Brown v. R.R. Co. and Phillips v. R.R. Co., 276 N.C. 398, 172 S.E.2d 502 (1970); Butner v. Spease and Spease v. Butner, 217 N.C. 82, 6 S.E.2d 808 (1940). See also Vaughan v. Silica Corp., 140 Ohio St. 17, 42 N.E.2d 156 (1942) (contractor who left dynamite on premises liable to trespassing child who discovered and was injured by same eight months later). Generally, whether the negligence of a second actor insulated that of another is a question for the jury. Hairston v. Alexander Tank &amp; Equipment Co., 310 N.C. 227, 311 S.E.2d 559 (1984); Moore v. Beard-Laney, Inc., 263 N.C. 601, 139 S.E.2d 879 (1965).[3]
Lisk has not filed an answer in this case. Therefore, there are no allegations by Lisk that Blythe was negligent and that such negligence insulated Lisk from liability. Likewise, Blythe has had no opportunity to respond to such allegations, although Blythe denied plaintiff's allegations that it negligently failed to secure the pipes. The issue with respect to insulating negligence has not been fully developed by the parties. Certainly, upon the materials before the trial judge, we cannot hold as a matter of law that negligence by Blythe insulated Lisk from liability for Phillip Thompson's death.
The decision of the Court of Appeals is
REVERSED.
VAUGHN, J., did not participate in the consideration or decision of this case.
[1]  A fortiori Lisk has failed to establish that an essential element of plaintiff's claim is nonexistent.
[2]  Lisk has produced evidence tending to show that when the pipes were delivered they were chocked to prevent them from rolling. Plaintiff's evidence is to the contrary. This, of course, presents a material question of fact for the jury to resolve.
[3]  For a thorough review of the law respecting insulating negligence, see Hairston v. Alexander Tank &amp; Equipment Co., 310 N.C. 227, 311 S.E.2d 559 (1984).