Court Opinion

ID: 9514655
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-06 22:50:55.051343+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:06:19.707378
License: Public Domain

ANDERSON, LEE D., Circuit Judge
(concurring in result in part and dissenting in part).
[¶ 31.] I respectfully dissent as to Issue 1. I concur in the result reached by the majority on Issue 2, and I concur on Issue 3 with the majority’s holding that the prevailing parties should be allowed to recover costs and disbursements.
[¶ 32.] 1. Duty of care AGI owed to Clausen.
[¶ 33.] Upon the filing of a summary judgment motion, the non-moving party must present specific facts showing that a genuine, material issue of fact exists. Benson v. Goble, 1999 SD 38, ¶ 9, 593 N.W.2d 402. Because Mrs. Clausen failed to identify any genuine issues of material fact at the trial court level or in her appellate briefs, and finding no genuine issue of material fact in the record, I would affirm the summary judgment granted to AGI.
[¶ 34.] The majority rests its decision on the second exception to the rule of nonlia-bility found in Haufle v. Svoboda, 416 *725N.W.2d 879 (S.D.1987). That exception states that the employer can be liable for an independent contractor’s negligence if the employer was negligent in maintaining control over the loork. (emphasis supplied). While I agree that this exception to the rule of nonliability from Haufle should also guide us in determining the liability of an employer for injuries sustained by the independent contractor himself, I disagree that there is a genuine issue of fact as to whether AGI maintained control over Clausen’s work.
[¶ 35.] The written contract entered into between Clausen and AGI provided that the manner, means, and details of conducting the work would be under the sole control of Clausen. The decision whether work place conditions were safe enough in which to perform the necessary work was left to the independent contractor. Clau-sen had been working atop railcars for almost three years at the time of his fall. No one from AGI was present to assess the conditions on the date of the accident nor had AGI exercised any control over this railcar. Mrs. Clausen presented no facts to create a genuine issue of fact concerning control over the work or work area by AGI.
[¶ 36.] The majority opinion finds the following evidence in the record raises a genuine issue of material fact precluding a grant of summary judgment to AGI: (1) training given to Clausen by Mr. Bartos, another independent contractor who had previously contracted to perform the same work for AGI, (2) an AGI personnel note telling Clausen he could continue probing on a rainy day so long as the grain samples and equipment remained dry, and (3) several notes in a file kept by AGI on Clausen written by AGI personnel while they observed Clausen taking grain samples.
[¶ 37.] The evidence relied on by the majority does not provide a genuine issue of material fact as to whether AGI was negligent in maintaining control over Clau-sen’s work or the work area in question, which is the railcar. There is no evidence that AGI ever had control over the railcar. AGI’s monitoring of Clausen’s work activities and telling him that he could work in the rain if the samples and probe remained dry only establish that the company was exercising its right to inspect Clausen’s work to insure that an adequate, uncontaminated grain sample was being obtained. AGI’s right to inspect Clausen’s work in order to insure its satisfactory completion does not render it liable for Clausen’s injuries. Ashby v. Northwestern Public Service Co., 490 N.W.2d 286, 290 (S.D.1992). Although AGI may have occasionally inspected Clausen’s work to insure compliance with their requirements, the record is void of any evidence that AGI retained control over Clausen’s work at any time prior to, and particularly on or around the date of Clausen’s fall. Because AGI did not retain any control over Clausen’s work or the work area, this exception to the rule of non-liability does not apply. The trial court’s grant of summary judgment to AGI should not be reversed on this basis.
[¶ 38.] Although not addressed by the majority opinion, there is another well-recognized exception to the rule of nonlia-bility noted in Haufle, to wit: An employer of an independent contractor can be held liable when the independent contractor injures a third party while engaged in an inherently dangerous activity.10 Even if *726working on top of a railcar could be considered an inherently dangerous activity, the class of persons entitled to protection under the inherently dangerous activity exception does not include independent contractors themselves. At least one court has held that independent contractors are not protected by the rule. See, Lawrence v. Bainbridge Apartments, 957 S.W.2d 400 (Mo.App. W.D.1997). This Missouri court, quoting W. Keeton, Prosser and Keeton on The Law of Torts 6 (5th ed. 1984), stated in its decision:
Tort law is ‘concerned with the allocation of losses arising out of human activities....’ To achieve this objective, courts and legislatures have established rules of liability. These rules ought to function to promote care and punish neglect by placing the burden of their breach on the person who can best avoid the harm.
Id. at 404. The best person in, a position to avoid the unfortunate fall of Clausen from atop of the railcar was Clausen himself.
[¶ 39.] This Court has previously stated that allowing an independent contractor’s employee to recover from an employer for injuries sustained while engaging in what could be considered an inherently dangerous activity would be inconsistent with the well-established rule of worker’s compensation — that being the independent contractor has the burden of providing compensation if injuries result to its employees. See, Ashby, 490 N.W.2d at 290. This does not mean that an employer escapes liability for injuries to an employee; rather the employer pays for any injuries to the independent contractor’s employees through the contract price negotiated between the employer and independent contractor. Id., (citing Wagner v. Continental Cas. Co., 143 Wis.2d 379, 421 N.W.2d 835, 844 (1988)).
[¶ 40.] The rationale found in Ashby should be applicable in this case as well. AGI entered into a contract with Clausen to have a certain job performed. As an independent contractor, it was Clausen’s role to assume financial responsibility for any injuries he received during the course of his job performance, whether it be by procuring disability insurance, life insurance, or some other form of protection. Nothing in this case supports a policy which would place a burden on AGI, the employer of an independent contractor, to guard against harm which may occur to the independent contractor himself while engaged in that independent contractor’s own work.
[¶ 4⅜.] The trial court’s grant of summary judgment to AGI should be affirmed.
[¶42.] 2. Duty of care Wheatgrowers owed to Clausen.
[¶ 43.] I concur with the result reached by the majority opinion on summary judgment being properly granted to Wheat-growers.
[¶ 44.] 3. Whether the trial court should have granted AGI’s and Wheatgrowers’ motions for taxation of costs.
[¶ 45.] I concur with the majority’s opinion as to Wheatgrowers, but as I would affirm summary judgment being granted to AGI, I believe AGI should be allowed to recover costs and disbursements as well.

. Though not necessary to resolve the issue before us in this case, the following principles should be adopted in South Dakota concerning inherently dangerous activities. Whether an activity is inherently dangerous is a question of law. McCubbin v. Walker, 256 Kan. 276, 886 P.2d 790, 800 (1994). An activity will not be considered an inherently dangerous activity if (1) it is susceptible of being performed without danger; (2) injury is merely possible when the activity is performed with reasonable care; and (3) the danger involved is due only to unforeseen risks and dependent on the manner in which the individual performs his job duties. Bosak v. Hutchinson, 422 Mich. 712, 375 N.W.2d 333, 340-41 (1985).