Opinion ID: 1260556
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Able's Appeal from Judgment in Favor of Aaron on Able's Cross-complaint

Text: Able cross-complained against Aaron, asserting a right to indemnity for any sums which Able would be obligated to pay plaintiffs in damages. The claim to indemnity was based upon the provisions in a rental agreement pursuant to which Aaron agreed to indemnify Able for all claims for damages to any person by reason of the use of the scaffold by Aaron or any other person. [12] The jury found against Able. (18) It is asserted by Able on its appeal from the judgment that the court erred in failing to give an instruction offered by it on the subject of its right to indemnity. The instruction would have advised the jury that it must find in Able's favor on the cross-complaint if Aaron used the scaffold in violation of the safety order and such use was a proximate cause of the accident. The proposed instruction was based upon a decision of the Court of Appeal in Price v. Shell Oil Co. (Cal. App.) 77 Cal. Rptr. 475, which was superseded when this court granted a hearing therein after the trial in the present case was concluded. In our decision (2 Cal.3d 245, 256-258 [85 Cal. Rptr. 178, 466 P.2d 722]) we held, in accordance with settled rules of law, that the indemnity clause in Price was phrased in general terms and, therefore, it did not insulate the lessor against its active negligence. The indemnity clause in Price was similar to the agreement between Aaron and Able in the present case. Able maintains nevertheless that the instruction based on the Court of Appeal's decision in Price correctly stated the law as it existed at the time of the trial in the present case, and that the trial court erred in refusing the instruction. This contention is untenable because, inter alia, the decision of the Court of Appeal upon which Able relies was not final at the time of the trial in the present case and a rehearing had been granted by that court several weeks before Able offered the instruction. [13] (19) The granting of a rehearing had the effect of vacating the decision and eliminating the rule of law upon which Able relied. (See, e.g., Miller & Lux Inc. v. James (1919) 180 Cal. 38, 48 [179 P. 174].) The trial court did not give any instructions on the issue of indemnity specifically directed to Able's cross-complaint, other than a general statement to the effect that Able was claiming indemnity on the basis of its written contract, which had been admitted into evidence. Able asserts that even if the trial court was justified in refusing the instruction it offered on the subject of indemnity the court was nevertheless under a duty to give instructions sua sponte on this issue. (20) Presumably, it desired the court to instruct the jury in accordance with our holding in Markley v. Beagle (1967) 66 Cal.2d 951, 962 [59 Cal. Rptr. 809, 429 P.2d 129]. In that case we concluded that an indemnity clause phrased in general terms could not provide indemnity for consequences resulting from the indemnitee's own actively negligent conduct, but that mere nonfeasance  such as a negligent failure to discover a dangerous condition arising out of the work  will not preclude indemnity under a general indemnity clause. [14] We are not required to determine in this case whether the trial court should have given an instruction sua sponte as to active or passive negligence because the failure to do so could not have resulted in prejudice. While we recognize that the character of an indemnitee's negligence is ordinarily a question of fact for the jury, it is clear that under the evidence Able was guilty of active negligence as a matter of law. (See Cahill Bros., Inc. v. Clementina Co. (1962) 208 Cal. App.2d 367, 381-383 [25 Cal. Rptr. 301].) It has been said that if a plaintiff seeking indemnity personally participates in an affirmative act of negligence, or is physically connected with an act or omission by knowledge of or acquiescence in it, or fails to perform some duty in connection with the omission which he may have undertaken by virtue of his agreement, he may not obtain indemnity. The crux of the inquiry is to determine whether there is participation in some manner by the person seeking indemnity in the conduct or omission which caused the injury beyond the mere failure to perform a duty imposed upon him by law. ( Cahill Bros., Inc. v. Clementina Co., supra, 208 Cal. App.2d 367, 381-382.) The evidence establishes the following: Carl Stubblefield was a partner in Able and had been in the business of renting scaffolds for 15 years. When Smith rented the scaffold he did not specify any particular components but said only that he wanted 19-foot rolling towers. Stubblefield had been in the building in which the scaffold was to be used and knew the height at which the men would be working. He alone made the decision as to the scaffold components appropriate for the job. Stubblefield knew safety order 1652 required the base of a rolling scaffold shall not be less than one-third its height or, if this requirement was not met, that the scaffold must be braced or anchored in some way. He chose a scaffold which did not meet the dimensional requirements of the safety order and did not provide Aaron with an available device, known as an outrigger, which would have added to the width of the scaffold's base. He did not ask Smith whether the scaffold would be braced or anchored, as the safety order requires for a scaffold of the dimensions he was supplying. Stubblefield knew that the electricians would be using the scaffold to reach the underside of the roof, where they were to work, and that the scaffold would be moved as the task progressed. Smith testified that he was not familiar with the safety order as to scaffolds, and that he relied upon Stubblefield to provide the kind of scaffold which was required. Thus Able, with knowledge of the requirements of the safety order, and knowing that the scaffold was to be rolled from place to place, provided Aaron with a scaffold which did not meet the dimensional requirements of the safety order for a rolling scaffold which was not to be anchored, did not provide an available device which would have added to the width of the scaffold, and made no inquiry as to the manner in which the scaffold would be secured. Under these circumstances the jury would have been compelled to conclude that Able participated in some manner in the conduct or omission which caused the injury beyond the mere failure to perform a duty imposed upon it by law. Thus, any omission of the trial court to instruct the jury on the issue of Able's passive or active negligence could not have been prejudicial.