Opinion ID: 1546049
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: factual findings and procedural history

Text: [¶ 2] The following factual findings are supported by competent evidence in the record. See In re Beauchene, 2008 ME 110, ¶ 7, 951 A.2d 81, 84. Devereux Marine is a private marina whose customers are members of the public. Devereux rigs its customers' sailboats for launching and unrigs them for storage and repair at its three-acre boatyard in the Town of Penobscot. The 19.9-kV CMP power line involved in this accident runs along Route 166, which divides the boatyard into a two-acre western portion and a one-acre eastern portion. Smith's accident occurred on the western portion, which is bounded on the east by Route 166 and the power line, and on the west by Devereux's launching ramp and Penobscot Baya body of water of more than 2,000 acres. [¶ 3] As of 1951, CMP had installed power lines along Route 166. These lines were, and remain, within a public right-of-way. In early 1989, one of the operators of Devereux went to a CMP office to discuss raising the line along Route 166 so that Devereux could move boats back and forth across the road. CMP represented that it would do the work only if Devereux paid the costs, which Devereux was unable to afford. Sometime later, the line along Route 166 was raised to enable a specialized boat lift to pass beneath it. [¶ 4] In 1998, the backstay of a sail mast made contact with the power line while a boat was being backed from Devereux's launch toward Route 166. No one was injured; however, electrical service was disrupted, and CMP had to restore power. [¶ 5] On October 31, 2002, Smith, a Devereux employee, was lowering a mast from a sailboat when the mast made contact with the power line, which was thirty feet off the ground. He was severely burned and suffered significant permanent injuries. Smith received workers' compensation benefits from Devereux [1] and sued CMP for negligence. [¶ 6] After considering the evidence admitted during the trial of the negligence claim, and after conducting a view of the boatyard and power line, the court made extensive findings. The court found that Devereux was operating as a marina with an [e]stablished boat ramp [] and associated rigging area [] and that the boatyard was an area that, by use, was intended to be used by the public for rigging or launching sailboats. 9 C.M.R. 65 407 910-2, § 1(A) (2001); Inst. of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc., National Electrical Safety Code C2-2002, Table 232-1(7), (8), at 77-78 (2002 ed. 2001) (NESC Table 232-1). Accordingly, the court found that Public Utilities Commission rules imposed a 45.5-foot vertical clearance requirement for the power lines along Route 166. See 9 C.M.R. 65 407 910-2, §§ 1-3 (2001); NESC Table 232-1(7), (8). The court further found that the accident would not have occurred if CMP had met the Commission's 45.5-foot vertical clearance requirement and that the negligence of Devereux as Smith's employer was not the sole proximate cause of the accident. The court noted that [i]f the law allowed these lines to have a vertical clearance of 30 feet, the Court might reach a different conclusion, but the law required the lines to have a 45.5 foot vertical clearance. [¶ 7] The court also found that CMP's company policy is to make its employees responsible for the safety of all people near electrical lines, not just its own employees. CMP trained its employees regarding the Overhead High-voltage Line Safety Act's prohibition against performing work that would cause a person or certain equipment or items, including boat masts, to be brought within ten feet of a power line. See 35-A M.R.S. §§ 752(1), 754(1), (2) (2009). CMP did not, however, provide training on its internal vertical clearance standards for power lines in rigging areas, which tracked with the Commission's rules that required a 45.5-foot minimum vertical clearance. See 9 C.M.R. 65 407 910-2, §§ 1-3 (2001); NESC Table 232-1(7), (8). The CMP employees involved with the lines at issue were unaware of the CMP vertical clearance standards or the statutory and regulatory standards. [¶ 8] The court concluded that CMP had breached its duty to exercise due care when it maintained only a thirty-foot vertical clearance for the power line despite its knowledge that (1) sailboat masts were being raised and lowered at the Devereux boatyard, (2) the backstay of another mast had made contact with the power line in 1998, and (3) the proximity of power lines to these boats was dangerous. The court found that CMP had also negligently deviated from its own safety policies, which required a 45.5-foot vertical clearance in an area used for rigging and launching sailboats, [2] and that it had failed to train its employees adequately on internal safety standards. [¶ 9] The court awarded Smith damages of $783,108 for past and future medical rehabilitation; $1,107,523 for lost earnings; and $3,000,000 in general damages for a total of $4,890,631 in damages. Based on these findings and conclusions, the court entered its judgment on November 14, 2008. [¶ 10] CMP timely moved for a new trial, for judgment as a matter of law, or to alter or amend the judgment pursuant to M.R. Civ. P. 50(d) and 59. The court denied CMP's motion. In its judgment on the motion, the court clarified that it had considered CMP's breach of statutory and regulatory duties in finding CMP negligent pursuant to common law negligence principles. [3] The court further found that it was foreseeable to CMP that Devereux employees might be working within ten feet of a power line in violation of the Overhead High-voltage Line Safety Act, 35-A M.R.S. §§ 752(1), 754(1), (2), in the area where the accident occurred because CMP employees had actual notice of the kind of work that went on at the boatyard near Route 166.