Raines v. Pierce Cabinets, Inc.
| Docket Number: | 2009-CA-00405-COA | |
| Court of Appeals: |
Opinion Link Opinion Date: 09-14-2010 Opinion Author: Griffis, J. Holding: Affirmed. |
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| Additional Case Information: |
Topic: Personal injury - Independent contractor - Assumption of risk Judge(s) Concurring: King, C.J., Lee and Myers, P.JJ., Irving, Barnes, Ishee, Roberts, Carlton and Maxwell, JJ. Procedural History: Summary Judgment Nature of the Case: CIVIL - PERSONAL INJURY |
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| Trial Court: |
Date of Trial Judgment: 03-02-2009 Appealed from: LEE COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT Judge: Jim S. Pounds Disposition: SUMMARY JUDGMENT GRANTED IN FAVOR OF PIERCE CABINETS, INC. Case Number: CV07-104(P)L |
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| Party Name: | Attorney Name: | Brief(s) Available: | ||
| Appellant: | Paul Raines |
MICHAEL LEE DULANEY |
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| Appellee: | Pierce Cabinets, Inc. | JAMIE FERGUSON JACKS, GERALD H. JACKS | ||
Synopsis provided by:  If you are interested in subscribing to the weekly synopses of all Mississippi Supreme Court and Court of Appeals hand downs please contact Tammy Upton in the MLI Press office. |
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| Topic: | Personal injury - Independent contractor - Assumption of risk |
| Summary of the Facts: | Pierce Cabinets, Inc. manufactures custom cabinetry. Pierce Cabinets contracted with Jeff’s Electric to perform the necessary electrical work on a new addition to the facility. Paul Raines was an employee of Jeff’s Electric. The breaker box that Raines was working on was one that he had worked on before. The breaker box had a label that read: “DANGER! High voltage. Will cause severe injury or death. Lock off power supplying this equipment before working inside.” Despite this warning, Raines worked on the box without disconnecting the incoming power to the box. While working on the breaker box, Raines was severely burned. Raines filed an action against Pierce Cabinets alleging that he was injured because there was sawdust on the premises which created a secondary flame after an electrical arc had occurred. The court entered judgment in favor of Pierce Cabinets, and Raines appeals. |
| Summary of Opinion Analysis: | As an employee of Jeff’s Electric, Raines was properly considered an independent contractor. Mississippi law requires that Pierce Cabinets provide Jeff’s Electric, and Raines, with a reasonably safe working environment or give warning of any danger. However, Pierce Cabinets will be relieved of this duty if the independent contractor knows of the danger. Raines claims that the danger was a collection of sawdust, actually flammable sawdust. Raines’s own testimony demonstrated his awareness that sawdust was flammable. He knew that working on a live box could cause an electrical arc. Therefore, Raines was or should have been aware of the danger presented. The owner or operator of a premises is not liable to the independent contractor resulting from dangers which the contractor has known, or as to which he has assumed the risk. Also, the owner or occupier of a premises is under no duty to protect the independent contractor against risks arising from or intimately connected with defect of the premises or of machinery or appliances located thereon, which the contractor has undertaken to repair. Since the risk arose from the machinery, and it was intimately connected with the machinery, Pierce Cabinets did not owe Raines any duty to warn of or make safe this condition. |
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