Opinion ID: 2292069
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Wrecking Corporation

Text: At one point during the trial, the judge remarked to Wrecking Corporation's counsel that INA had never laid a glove on him. We agree. INA utterly failed to present any evidence from which a reasonable juror could have found Wrecking Corporation to have been negligent or in breach of contract. INA's breach of contract claim seems to be based on section II (c) of the contract, in which Wrecking Corporation represents itself to be an expert in demolition work. As an expert, INA contends, Wrecking Corporation was obliged to be aware of District of Columbia regulations requiring shoring and bracing of unsupported walls in construction projects. INA points also to section IV (d), which contains assurances of compliance with applicable regulations and assigns liability to Wrecking Corporation for any damage resulting from any knowing violation of them. However, INA presented no evidence at all that Wrecking Corporation knowingly perform[ed] any work contrary to such . . . regulations, which would have been a breach of section IV (d); indeed, it did not even prove that Wrecking Corporation was or should have been aware of the District's shoring and bracing regulations. Thus there was no evidence from which a reasonable trier of fact could find that Wrecking Corporation breached the contract. Indeed, what evidence there was suggests the opposite: both Lyons and Conrad testified to their satisfaction with Wrecking Corporation's performance. The directed verdict on the breach of contract claim was manifestly correct. We reach the same conclusion with regard to the directed verdict on INA's negligence claim. INA's theory here centers on the same alleged failure of Wrecking Corporation to comply with local and federal laws concerning shoring and bracing. But, as we have noted, INA made no showing that Wrecking Corporation's performance failed to meet legal requirements; in fact, Mr. Conrad, H&L's former vice president, testified that he was unaware that the demolition was being carried out in violation of applicable law, and Mr. Lyons, H&L's president, said he knew of no laws requiring shoring and bracing. Moreover, INA never presented any evidence at all as to what the relevant standard of care might be. See Meek v. Shepard, 484 A.2d 579, 581 (D.C.1984), citing Haven v. Randolph, 161 U.S.App.D.C. 150, 151, 494 F.2d 1069, 1070 (D.C.1974). Perhaps INA could have proven that a demolition contractor is expected to be acquainted with local regulations concerning shoring and bracing, but in this case it did not even begin to do so. In light of the utter lack of evidence against Wrecking Corporation, no reasonable juror could have found it negligent. Hence the directed verdict was proper on the negligence claim as well.