Opinion ID: 550710
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: the bureau's negligence

Text: 27 The general rule in Nebraska is that the owner is not liable for physical harm caused to another by the acts or omissions of the contractor or the contractor's employees. Sullivan v. George A. Hormel & Co., 208 Neb. 262, 303 N.W.2d 476 (1981). The owner, however, as the district court noted, remains liable for negligence on the construction site if (1) the employer retains control of the work; (2) Nebraska common law creates a nondelegable duty; or (3) Nebraska statutes create a nondelegable duty. Erickson v. Monarch Indus., 216 Neb. 875, 347 N.W.2d 99, 105 (1984). We believe that the Nebraska common law creates a nondelegable duty running from the Bureau to Murdock. 28 Under Nebraska common law, an owner of land is responsible to ensure that its contractor takes all appropriate precautions in performing an inherently dangerous task. Id. (quoting Witucke v. Presque Isle Bank, 68 Mich.App. 599, 610, 243 N.W.2d 907, 912 (1976)). This  'nondelegable duty exception is based upon the theory that certain responsibilities of a principal are so important that the principal should not be permitted to bargain away the risks of performance.'  Id. (quoting Arsand v. City of Franklin, 83 Wis.2d 40, 54 n. 8, 264 N.W.2d 579, 568 n. 8 (1978)). The district court did not reach the question of whether the construction at this site was an inherently dangerous activity. It instead held that assuming this fact, the Bureau had not breached its duty to take due and suitable precautions to protect Murdock from injury. In short, it held that no agent of the government acted negligently. 29 Nebraska has squarely faced the issue of whether excavation similar to that undertaken here is inherently dangerous and has decided the issue in the affirmative. See McKinstry v. Cass County, 228 Neb. 733, 424 N.W.2d 322 (1988); Hickman v. Parks Construction Co., 162 Neb. 461, 76 N.W.2d 403 (1956). In Hickman, the Air Force had entered into a contract with a construction company to improve the area adjacent to an officers' club. Part of the improvements included a new wall. 30 The construction of the wall required the digging or excavating of a ditch or trench the length of this south boundary line the purpose of which was to contain the footing and a base for the wall. Accordingly, ... the necessary excavating was done.... The excavation was about 4 feet wide and about 4 1/2 feet deep. In the excavation were placed forms for the pouring of a concrete base for the wall 8 inches thick with a footing of about 1 foot 8 inches. The concrete was poured and the forms removed. The portion of the excavation to the north of the concrete base was backfilled so that the area north from the concrete was relatively even or level. The portion to the south was not backfilled completely if at all. 31 Hickman, 76 N.W.2d at 407. The court held that the excavation, four feet wide by four and a half feet deep and backfilled on one side, was a dangerous place. Id. at 408-09. See also Erickson, 347 N.W.2d at 99 (electrical transformer was a dangerous instrumentality); Crosswhite v. City of Lincoln, 185 Neb. 331, 175 N.W.2d 908 (1970) (a sidewalk where a protruding pipe was located was a dangerous sidewalk condition); Colvin v. John Powell & Co., 163 Neb. 112, 77 N.W.2d 900 (1956) (molasses barrels tainted with poison were dangerous instrumentalities); cf. Pendleton Woolen Mills v. Vending Assoc., Inc., 195 Neb. 46, 237 N.W.2d 99, 102 (1975) (the Court did not believe that the pop machine involved in this case could be considered a 'dangerous instrumentality' ). Thus, the district court's assumption that the Bureau had a nondelegable duty to take due and suitable precautions to ensure a safe workplace is correct. 32 The Nebraska view reflects the position of the Restatement of Torts (Second). 33 Sec. 427. Negligence as to Danger Inherent in the Work 34 One who employs an independent contractor to do work involving a special danger to others which the employer knows or has reason to know to be inherent in or normal to the work, or which he contemplates or has reason to contemplate when making the contract, is subject to liability for physical harm caused to such others by the contractor's failure to take reasonable precautions against such danger. 35 Restatement of Torts (Second) Sec. 427 (1965). The Restatement further explained: 36 The rule stated in this Section is commonly expressed by the courts in terms of liability of the employer for negligence of the contractor in doing work which is inherently or intrinsically dangerous. It is not, however, necessary to the employer's liability that the work be of a kind which cannot be done without a risk of harm to others, or that it be of a kind which involves a high degree of risk of such harm, or that the risk be one of very serious harm, such as death or serious bodily injury. 37 Id. Sec. 427 Comment b. See also Zrust v. Spencer Foods, Inc., 667 F.2d 760, 765 (8th Cir.1982) (the Nebraska Supreme Court frequently and extensively relies on the Restatement of Torts, particularly in the area of worker safety). 38 As noted above, under the inherently dangerous doctrine, the Nebraska Supreme Court has held that an owner must take all appropriate precautions to ensure that an inherently dangerous task is safely completed. Erickson, 347 N.W.2d at 105.The doctrine, in short, says that the principal is negligent, and hence liable, because it has allowed the independent contractor to be negligent in performing the job. There is a nondelegable duty to see that the work is done with the requisite degree of care. 39 Id. (quoting Witucke v. Presque Isle Bank, 68 Mich.App. 599, 610, 243 N.W.2d 907, 912 (1976)). While some states have held that employees of independent contractors do not benefit from the nondelegable duty rule arising from inherently dangerous work, see Vagle v. Pickands Mather & Co., 611 F.2d 1212 (8th Cir.1979) (construing Minnesota law), the Nebraska Supreme Court has allowed employees of independent contractors to recover under this doctrine, see Simon v. Omaha Public Power District, 189 Neb. 183, 202 N.W.2d 157, 164 (1972); see also Giarratano v. Weitz Co., 259 Iowa 1292, 147 N.W.2d 824, 834 (1967); Mallory v. Louisiana Pure Ice & Supply Co., 320 Mo. 95, 6 S.W.2d 617, 624 (Mo.1928) (en banc). 6 Thus, the question is whether in this dangerous place the Bureau took due and suitable precautions to protect Murdock from injury. 40 Officials from both the Bureau and Western admitted that the unsupported, unreinforced canal lining was apt to collapse and thereby posed a significant risk to employees working adjacent to the lining. Murdock v. United States, No. 86-L-492, Transcript at 469-70 (D.Neb. Sept. 6, 1989) (testimony of McClure, Bureau inspector) [Tr.]; Murdock v. United States, No 86-L-492, Deposition of McClure at 24-26 (D.Neb. March 15, 1988) [Depo. of]; Depo. of Walter Long, Chief of the Water Conveyance Branch for the Bureau, at 44-45; Depo. of Thomas Haider, Bureau designer of the canal, at 28-29. The Bureau and Western agreed upon a procedure to ensure workers' safety. Id. This procedure involved chipping off the curb and the top two or three feet of the canal lining in the area in which the work was to be performed. Two separate Bureau inspectors viewed the excavation several times on June 12th and were aware that neither the curb nor the top two or three feet of the lining had been chipped off in the area near the bridge abutment. Tr. at 43, 77, 82, and 1044 (inspectors Sintek and Schwisow); Depo. of Sintek at 20-21, 45-46; Depo. of Schwisow at 25, 56. They were also aware that the soil in the area was sandy and prone to sloughing. They knew that the excavation had to be refilled and compacted, partially by hand. They were also aware that on occasion hand compacting was done by the night crew. Tr. at 152, 153, and 819; Depo. of Kusek at 13-14. No slide protection was placed on the banks of the excavation, nor was the canal lining braced. See Tr. at 87, 112-114, 1100-1101, 1115, 1133-1134. 41 Sintek and Schwisow's testimony regarding the extent to which the concrete lining was exposed at that time and the angle of repose of the earth supporting the canal lining is implausible. Both Schwisow and Sintek stated that the angle of repose of the earth supporting the canal lining at or about 4:00 p.m. was approximately one to one and that only two or three feet of the canal lining was exposed. These witnesses cannot be right in both particulars. If only two or three feet of the canal were exposed, the angle of repose would have to have been significantly steeper, thereby increasing the probability that there would be extensive sloughing of earth from under the canal lining. See Appendix (line B). On the other hand, if the angle of repose was in fact one to one, then approximately ten feet of the canal lining would have had to have been exposed. See id. (line A). 42 The district court took the position that even if the condition at the site was a dangerous one, the Bureau cannot be held responsible for Murdock's injury because the Bureau did not believe that employees would be compacting soil in the excavation during the night shift. There are three answers to this assertion. First, undisputed evidence indicates that some tamping and compacting in excavations had been done by night crews in the past. Undisputed evidence also indicates that the Bureau was aware of this fact. Thus, the Bureau should have anticipated that workers might well work in the excavation on the night in question, and consequently the Bureau should have taken the steps necessary to protect them. 7 This was a part of its nondelegable duty. 43 Second, even if the Bureau did not believe that the night shift crew would be working in the excavation, it knew that the contractor had the right to require the night shift to compact soil in the excavation and that compacting the soil in the excavation might be dangerous since the uncut canal lining posed a danger to anyone working in the excavation. In light of its nondelegable duty, the Bureau had the responsibility to enter an order requiring the contractor to refrain from any further activities in the excavation until the unsafe conditions had been corrected. 44 Third, the government knew that hand compacting in the excavation was necessary, that the employees doing that compacting would have to work under the canal lining, and that it was unsafe for them to do so. Thus, irrespective of when the work was to be performed and because the inspectors knew that they would not be at that site at all times when work was being performed, the Bureau had an obligation to issue a stop order until the unsafe condition was remedied. In light of the obvious safety violation, the Bureau had the right and the duty to enter a stop work order at this site until the unsafe conditions had been corrected. 8