Court Opinion

ID: 9774892
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-29 18:37:33.39619+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:32:17.511016
License: Public Domain

MURPHY, J., dissenting, which HARRELL, J., joins.
I am persuaded that, while holding that the Respondents are entitled to summary judgment on the ground that they did not retain sufficient control over the work that resulted in Mr. Appiah’s death, the Court of Special Appeals and the majority of this Court have interpreted too narrowly the words “the very thing from which the injury arose.” It is true that in Gallagher’s Estate v. Battle, 209 Md. 592, 122 A.2d 93 (1956), this Court stated that “the retention of control is an absolute prerequisite to an employer’s liability for harm caused by the work of an independent contractor.” In that case, (1) Gallagher, a “common carrier of freight,” entered into a “trip lease” with the owners of a tractor trailer unit, one of whom—Mr. Steger—delivered a shipment of steel to Philadelphia, PA, and (2) on the return trip to Baltimore, Mr. Steger was involved in an accident that resulted in injuries for which he was held liable. “The sole question [presented in that case was] Gallagher’s responsibility for Steger’s negligence.” Id. at 596, 122 A.2d at 95. The following evidence was uncontradicted:
Steger[, who owned the trailer,] was paid by [the owner of the tractor], not by Gallagher. Steger testified without contradiction that he was not told by Gallagher the route by which he should transport the steel. He said: ‘You can use Route 1, Route 40, or whichever route you want to use. They never told you what route to use as long as you got the steel up there.” He further said that when he was instructed to pick up a load at a certain time, he was told to deliver the load as fast as he could, within reason and safety. He was not told to deliver the load by a *567certain time. There was no evidence that Gallagher had the power to control and direct Steger in the rendering of his services.
Id. at 603,122 A.2d at 98.
While holding that Gallagher was not responsible for Steger’s negligence on the return trip to Baltimore, this Court stated:
There is no doubt that, if the accident had occurred on the trip from Sparrows Point to Philadelphia, for which trip the tractor trailer was leased and on which the I.C.C. placards were placed by Gallagher, Gallagher would have been liable for Steger’s negligence in spite of the fact that [the owner of the tractor] agreed to save Gallagher harmless against bodily injury to other persons.
Id. at 598-99, 122 A.2d at 96. (Emphasis supplied). This statement would not have been included if the Gallagher’s Estate Court interpreted the words “the very thing from which the injury arose” as narrowly as those words have been interpreted by the Court of Special Appeals and by the majority of this Court in the case at bar.
To determine whether either of the Respondents is entitled to summary judgment in the case at bar, it may be helpful to assume that, subsequent to the tragic accident, (1) MPA posted at each slot in Reefer Row a “safety protocol” that prohibited truck drivers from latching onto a reefer until they personally inspected the area between the truck and the reefer to confirm that the longshoreman had rolled up the power cord and moved out of harms way, or (2) P & 0 demanded that Marine Repair post such a protocol. Because summary judgment should not have been entered in favor of either Respondent if both of them had the contractual authority to take such action, their entitlement to summary judgment depends upon the answers to two questions: (1) Would Marine Repair have the legal right to remove a “safety protocol” posted by MPA? (2) Would Marine Repair have the legal right to refuse P & O’s demand that such a protocol be posted? In my opinion, the correct answer to both questions is “no.” I *568would therefore reverse the judgment of the Court of Special Appeals, and direct that this case be remanded to the Circuit Court for trial.
Judge HARRELL has authorized me to state that he joins this dissenting opinion.