Opinion ID: 1613711
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 11

Heading: The Extent of the Negligence of the Defendant, East River.

Text: East River has cited to this court numerous case authority from other jurisdictions that have held plaintiffs who have been injured by utility lines, to have been contributorially negligent as a matter of law. However, these cases generally have found the utility to be without fault or the conduct of the utility is easily distinguishable on the facts. The utility being found to be without fault is not the finding of the jury herein. [14] Given the comparison standard mandated by SDCL 20-9-2 and interpretative case law, the use of the Job factors is also helpful in this case in analyzing the extent of East River's negligence. The record contains numerous examples of East River's failure to assure the plaintiff a safe place to work despite East River's claimed expertise with what it described as a simple project. East River did not do the pre-job planning concerning the details of the project with Sioux Valley as required by East River's manual. East River failed to draft and use a written switching order which would have listed the necessary steps to safely complete the project. East River failed to obtain permission from its radio dispatcher prior to the completion of each step. Had it done so, the dispatcher would have been in a position to inform the crew at the scene that the disconnect switches had not been opened. East River personnel on the scene, failed to follow all the steps for deenergization of the substation listed in its manual, more specifically opening the disconnect switches. East River did not have one person present to coordinate the entire project as required by the manual. Its foreman Olson, testified that he felt that the Sioux Valley personnel were to complete their portion of the project independent of supervision from East River. East River's failure to follow its own safety procedures, coupled with the apparent lack of supervision and warnings which would inform the plaintiff of the danger, give the jury a factual justification for finding plaintiff's injury was a foreseeable result mainly because of East River's conduct. Thus, an examination of the evidence in a light most favorable to the plaintiff and giving him the benefit of all reasonable inferences does not convince us that the circuit court erred in refusing to grant a directed verdict or a judgment NOV in favor of East River as a matter of law on the basis of plaintiff's contributory negligence.