Court Opinion

ID: 9702647
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-25 23:20:08.055238+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:21:40.209254
License: Public Domain

FERREN, Associate Judge,
concurring in part and dissenting in part:
I join in the opinion for the court except for Part II.D on vicarious liability, from which I respectfully dissent.
Contrary to the majority’s analysis in Part II.D.l, I believe that in Fry v. Diamond Construction, Inc., 659 A.2d 241 (D.C.1995), this court unequivocally adopted the rule announced in Lindler v. District of Columbia, 164 U.S.App. D.C. 35, 502 F.2d 495 (1974), authorizing an independent contractor’s employee to sue the contractor’s employer for negligence under Restatement (Seoond) of Torts § 427 (1965), based on vicarious liability attributable to inherently dangerous activity. On that issue we said in full:
D. Inherent Danger and Peculiar Risk of Harm.
In Counts IV and V of his complaint, Fry, Jr. alleged that the work to be done was inherently dangerous and exposed him to a peculiar risk of harm. An employer is liable for injuries caused by *1340the negligence of an independent contractor where the work performed by the contractor is inherently dangerous. Levy v. Currier, 587 A.2d 205, 209 (D.C.1991); Lindler, supra, note 7, 164 U.S.App. D.C. at 38, 502 F.2d at 495 (applying this rule in favor of independent contractor’s employee). The trial judge, as we have seen, held that scaffolding and painting are not inherently dangerous activities.
But the application of the “inherent danger” rule is not limited to intrinsically hazardous work. District of Columbia v. Howell, 607 A.2d 501, 505 (D.C.1992). On the contrary, the rule applies, inter alia, where “the employer has special reason to contemplate such a risk [of harm] under the particular circumstances under which the work is to be done.” Levy, supra, 587 A.2d at 209 (quoting Restatement (Second) of ToRTS § 427, cmt. b (1965)). In the present case, Bamas testified that he was well aware of the danger posed by the “scaffolding and ladder” procedure. According to Fry, Sr., Bamas not only tolerated the perilous methodology but actually directed Fry, Sr. to follow it.
“Whether a particular kind of work is inherently dangerous is essentially a relative determination based upon the facts of the particular case.” Taylor v. Tellez, 610 A.2d 252, 255 (D.C.1992) (citations omitted). “The existence of [a] danger and knowledge of it by the employer are normally questions of fact for the jury.” Howell, supra, 607 A.2d at 505. Given Fry, Sr.’s testimony, there were genuine issues of material fact precluding entry of summary judgment on Fry, Jr.’s claim of “inherently dangerous” activity. For similar reasons, we conclude that summary judgment was improperly entered on Fry, Jr.’s related claim under the “peculiar risk” doctrine. See Wilson v. Good Humor Corp., 244 U.S.App. D.C. 298, 309, 757 F.2d 1293, 1304 (1985); Restatement (Second) of Toets, § 413 cmt. b. (1965).
Fry, 659 A.2d at 249 (footnote omitted).
From the discussion and citations, it is clear that we ruled in Counts IV and V, respectively, on vicarious liability for inherently dangerous activity under § 427 (citing Levy, Lindler, Taylor, and Howell) and on direct liability for “peculiar unreasonable risk of physical harm” under § 413 (citing Wilson ).1 Indeed, all but the last sentence of our analysis focused entirely on Fry’s Count IV, where we expressly recognized the rule imposing vicarious liability on an employer for injuries to the employee of an independent contractor whose negligence in carrying out inherently dangerous work caused the injuries. See Fry, 659 A.2d at 249.
The majority’s reasons in Part II.D.2 for withholding such vicarious liability are not unpersuasive, but I believe that any such result can be achieved only by our going en banc to overrule the applicable part of Fry that presently stands in the way of the result the majority proposes. See M.A.P. v. Ryan, 285 A.2d 310 (D.C.1971). In short, I believe the majority is barred from announcing the result it imposes in this regard.

. We did not deal with vicarious liability for "peculiar risk of physical harm” under § 416, to be distinguished from § 413. See Restatement (Second) of Torts § 416 cmt. c.