Cordova v. Parrett

703 P.2d 1228, 146 Ariz. 79, 1985 Ariz. App. LEXIS 554
CourtCourt of Appeals of Arizona
DecidedApril 17, 1985
Docket2 CA-CIV 5300
StatusPublished
Cited by15 cases

This text of 703 P.2d 1228 (Cordova v. Parrett) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Arizona primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Cordova v. Parrett, 703 P.2d 1228, 146 Ariz. 79, 1985 Ariz. App. LEXIS 554 (Ark. Ct. App. 1985).

Opinion

OPINION

FERNANDEZ, Judge.

Appellants seek to hold appellee landowners liable for the death of appellants’ son who was killed while he was assisting in the installation of appellees’ mobile home as an employee of the moving service company engaged by appellees. The company, G & L Mobile Home Movers & Service, Inc., (hereinafter G & L) was apparently unlicensed and carried no workers’ compensation insurance at the time of the acci *81 dent. 1 The trial court granted appellees’ summary judgment motion, and this appeal followed.

Appellees, James and Betty Parrett, hired G & L under an oral agreement, to move their mobile home from a mobile home park to a lot they had purchased. While the mobile home was being leveled, one of the hydraulic jacks under it slipped, and the mobile home fell on Gabriel A. Cordova, Jr. and crushed him. At the time the only employees of G & L at the site were decedent who was 19 and Dennis Hill who had turned 16 a few weeks earlier. Robert Gibson, the son of the owner of G & L, Frank Gibson, had been overseeing and assisting in the installation but had left a half-hour to an hour before the accident.

The Parretts were at the lot at the time of the accident. Betty was watching the activity with her daughter-in-law and small grandchild. James and his son were digging a trench and laying water lines in an effort to save money on the move. Appellees’ only connection with the mobile home installation by G & L was an indication by James where he wanted the home located. Dennis Hill testified in his deposition that the location of the mobile home on the lot had nothing to do with the accident. All other aspects of the move were handled by G & L.

Appellants seek to hold appellees liable under any of several theories of the Restatement (Second) of Torts (1965), namely §§ 318, 411, 413, 414, 424 and 427A. Alternatively, they ask us to overrule Welker v. Kennecott Copper Company, 1 Ariz.App. 395, 403 P.2d 330 (1965). We can perceive no valid reason in this case for overruling Welker, and we find no merit in appellants’ attempt to apply the listed Restatement sections to this situation.

Appellants initially contend appellees are liable under Restatement (Second) of Torts § 424 (1965) on the ground that failure to abide by a statute or regulation which imposes a duty to safeguard others gives rise to liability for a resulting injury. They rely upon A.A.R.R. R4-34202(B)(1)(a) which specifies the distance at which supports are to be placed in the installation of mobile homes. It is argued the regulation imposes a non-delegable duty upon an owner. In addition to the fact that there was no evidence the regulation had been violated, the regulation does not apply to landowners such as appellees but to licensed installers of mobile homes. A.R.S. § 32-1178.01. More importantly, however, § 424 of the Restatement has been held to be inapplicable in Arizona. Sullins v. Third and Catalina, Inc., 124 Ariz. 114, 602 P.2d 495 (App.1979). Division One of this court stated in Sullins that § 424 does not apply in the area of tort law governing the relationship of the employer of an independent contractor to an employee of that contractor.

Next appellants seek to hold appellees liable under § 411 of the Restatement. That section imposes liability upon the employer of an independent contractor for failure to exercise reasonable care in employing a competent contractor if the work to be performed requires skill in order to avoid the risk of harm to others. Their complaint as to the incompetence of the contractor is with regard to his being unlicensed and failing to have workers’ compensation insurance, as to which there was no competent evidence. The competence of the contractor referred to in § 411, however, relates to his “knowledge, skill, experience, and available equipment.” Comment a. There is no contention such qualities caused the accident here. Moreover, comment g to that section specifically states it is not applicable to a financially irresponsible contractor.

*82 The cases cited by appellants, decidedly of a minority view, do not warrant the adoption of a new rule in this jurisdiction with regard to financially irresponsible contractors (even if that issue had been raised by competent evidence) under the facts of this case. In Becker v. Interstate Properties, 569 F.2d 1203 (3d Cir.), cert. denied, 436 U.S. 906, 98 S.Ct. 2237, 56 L.Ed.2d 404 (1978), the court found the developer of a shopping center project could be held liable to. an employee of a sub-subcontractor who carried no workers’ compensation insurance and who was only minimally capitalized. The ruling was based on a policy decision that between the victim and the developer, the developer should bear the burden of the loss because it was “a substantial entrepreneur and a member of an industry that carries large liability insurance policies as a matter of course.” 569 F.2d at 1210. The court also noted that the developer had negotiated at length with the contractor on the matter of insurance coverage and was thus in a better position to assure financial responsibility.

No such policy reasons exist in this case. Appellees are not in the business of having mobile homes moved. They have no expertise or experience in moving mobile homes and are not in a position to ensure the financial responsibility of the company they hired to move their home. Comment c to §411 notes that an inexperienced widow employing a contractor to build a house is not expected to have the same information on the contractor’s competence as would a bank seeking to build the same house. Appellees are akin to the widow, not to the bank.

Appellants next contend the work in which decedent was engaged was an abnormally dangerous activity; thus, appellees are liable under § 427A of the Restatement. There is no merit to this contention either.. Appellants erroneously claim that whether or not an activity is abnormally dangerous is a fact question. On the contrary, such determinations are for the court to make. Correa v. Curbey, 124 Ariz. 480, 605 P.2d 458 (App.1979); Restatement (Second) of Torts § 520, comment / (1965). The factors that are to be considered in determining if an activity is an abnormally dangerous one are found in Restatement (Second) of Torts § 520 (1965); they indicate there is no question that the installation of a mobile home is not abnormally dangerous. According to comment f to § 520, “[t]he essential question is whether the risk created is so unusual, either because of its magnitude or because of the circumstances surrounding it, as to justify the imposition of strict liability for the harm that results from it, even though it is carried on with all reasonable care.” There is no risk of harm if the installation is carried on with reasonable care.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
703 P.2d 1228, 146 Ariz. 79, 1985 Ariz. App. LEXIS 554, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/cordova-v-parrett-arizctapp-1985.