Opinion ID: 1977049
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Disposition in the Trial Court and the Court of Appeals

Text: The trial court and the Court of Appeals have analyzed this issue in various ways. The trial court granted Forsythe's motion for directed verdict with regard to plaintiff's inherently dangerous activity theory. This ruling was based on the trial court's findings that (1) Forsythe had not contracted with CCI to erect the crane at night, and (2) CCI'S decision, subsequent to the contract, to erect the crane without adequate lighting amounted to collateral negligence as defined in 2 Restatement Torts, 2d, § 426, p 413. Initially, the Court of Appeals affirmed the grant of directed verdict, although on a different basis: Even assuming the assembly of a crane could be found to be an inherently dangerous activity, the proofs submitted by plaintiffs show that the injuries sustained by Nicholas Bosak were not due to the inherently hazardous nature of the work, but rather to the collateral negligence of the crane operator. See Garczynski v Darin & Armstrong Co, 420 F2d 941, 942 (CA 6, 1970). The negligence involved here is solely the negligence of the crane operator in booming down when he had apparently received no order to do so. On a properly operated crane, this risk is not inherent or normal to the work, and defendant Forsythe certainly had no reason to contemplate the Hurley employee's negligence when the contract with CCI was made. [Emphasis added.] However, on rehearing, the Court of Appeals concluded that the case should have been submitted to the jury: After again reviewing the record we believe that the evidence raised a question of fact, for the jury, as to whether plaintiff's injuries were due solely to the collateral negligence of the crane operator or whether the accident could be attributable to both the crane operator's negligence and the actions of the general contractor. Forsythe allegedly directed the work to be done after normal working hours, on a mid-winter evening in muddy, snowy, winter-weather conditions by workers who had already worked a full day on the construction site. Whether these conditions contributed to the accident is a determination which should be left to the trier of fact; the foreseeable circumstances and consequences of night-time crane-assembly in mid-December were sufficient to present to the jury the inherently dangerous activity theory of liability.