Court Opinion

ID: 9678437
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-24 06:19:54.079977+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:17:04.633245
License: Public Domain

ALLBEE, Justice
(concurring and dissenting).
Although I concur in Divisions I and III and much of Division II, I must dissent from Division II-C and that portion of the Division II result which remands the case for a new trial.
First, I find no substantial evidence in the record from which the jury could have found that the dangerous conditions which caused plaintiff’s injury existed at the time *510Travelers made any of its inspections. But even assuming, arguendo, that the evidence was sufficient in that regard, I cannot agree with the court’s conclusion in Division II-C that there was sufficient evidence to submit the issue of Travelers’ liability to the jury under subsection (c) of the Restatement test. See Restatement (Second) of Torts § 324A(c) (1965).
Liability under subsection (c) must be predicated upon the “reliance” of either the plaintiff or his employer on Travelers’ inspections. There is no evidence that plaintiff was aware of Travelers’ inspections; thus, he himself could not have relied on them. As to Farmaster, even assuming it relied on the inspections, this reliance was clearly unjustifiable in light of Travelers’ repeated admonitions to the employer that its inspection reports did “not purport to list all hazards nor to indicate that other hazards do not exist.” Travelers also repeatedly informed Farmaster that the inspections were merely “advisory” and for the purpose of assisting the employer in maintaining the employer’s own safety program.
“Under the Restatement rule, . . . [t]he carrier may ... be liable if the employer so relied on the insurer’s undertaking that it neglected its own safety inspection program to [the employee’s] detriment.” Stacy v. Aetna Casualty & Surety Co., 484 F.2d 289, 295 (5th Cir. 1973). This reliance must be “reasonable.” See Tillman v. Travelers Indemnity Co., 506 F.2d 917, 920. In the case at bar, there is no evidence from which a jury could find that Farmaster had a reasonable basis for relying on Travelers’ inspections to the point of neglecting its own duty to inspect for work hazards.
Because there was insufficient evidence of liability under either subsection (a) or (c) to generate a jury question, trial court should have granted Travelers’ motion for a directed verdict. Consequently, I would set aside the judgment against Travelers without remanding for a new trial.
McGIVERIN, J., joins this dissent.