Opinion ID: 1702971
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Anderson's failure to warn

Text: ¶ 7. Anderson argues that Bracken was an independent contractor which had knowledge of the hole, and therefore pursuant to this Court's decision in Jones v. James Reeves Contractors, Inc., 701 So.2d 774 (Miss.1997), it was not required to warn Bracken about the hole. Therefore, Anderson argues, it was entitled to a directed verdict in its favor. In Jones, an employee of McCaskill was killed when a hole being excavated on the premises of Howard Industries collapsed. Id. at 776-77. We found that Howard Industries owed no duty to make the premises safe, and then went on to say: Moreover, even if there existed a duty on the part of Howard to make the premises safe, the only way in which that duty would remain intact is if John McCaskill, Jr., as site supervisor, did not know of the condition of the soil. In City of Jackson v. Ball, 562 So.2d 1267, 1270 (Miss.1990), we held that no warning need be given to employees of a contractor so long as the contractor knows of the danger. See also Mississippi Chemical Corp. v. Rogers, 368 So.2d 220, 222 (Miss.1979). Here there may be a dispute as to a material fact. Reeves claimed that he stopped digging and went and told McCaskill about the watersand under the surface when he observed it, and that McCaskill instructed him to keep digging. McCaskill denies any such conversation ever took place. This conversation, or lack thereof, certainly goes to McCaskill's knowledge of the soil condition. Jones, 701 So.2d at 783 (emphasis added). ¶ 8. We continued: However, it is not the only means by which McCaskill would have knowledge of the soil conditions. Because he was on the site at all times, and was in fact running the transit to measure the elevation of the hole, he would have had additional opportunity to observe the condition of the subsurface. It must be pointed out, however, that according to the contract between McCaskill Brothers and Jones County, McCaskill Brothers is chargeable with knowledge of the soil conditions as a prerequisite to signing the contract. Section 1.2.2 states that Execution of the Contract by the Contractor is a representation that the Contractor has visited the site, become familiar with local conditions under which the Work is to be performed and correlated personal observations with the requirements of the Contract Documents. (emphasis supplied). Thus, according to Jackson Ready Mix Concrete [v. Sexton, 235 So.2d 267 (Miss.1970) ], Howard had no duty to warn of a danger which McCaskill should reasonably have appreciated before exposing himself (and by extension, his employees) to it. Such an expectation of appreciation is reasonable because under the contract McCaskill had visited the site and had familiarized himself with the soil conditions. Accordingly, we find that for this additional reason, the judgment as to the defendant, Howard Industries, Inc., is affirmed. Id. at 783 (emphasis added). ¶ 9. In the present case, there is no indication that Bracken had assumed any obligations, contractual or otherwise, to inspect the premises. Additionally, there was certainly a factual question as to whether Bracken had knowledge that the hole had been cut in the roof decking. The jury resolved this question against Anderson. Factual disputes are properly resolved by the jury and do not mandate a new trial. Eakes v. State, 665 So.2d 852, 872 (Miss.1995) (citing McNeal v. State, 617 So.2d 999, 1009 (Miss.1993)). We therefore find this issue to be without merit.