Falling for you: Roof fall case clarifies liability for contractor injuries

Property owners, think twice before directing tenants to hire independent contractors to do work at your properties. The “Privette” doctrine, which usually creates a strong presumption that the contractor is responsible for all workplace safety, may not protect you.

Somehow, it always starts with ‘someone fell through the ceiling’

In November 2022, the court of appeal issued its latest decision in a string of recent developments and refinements to the Privettedoctrine, which generally provides that when someone hires an independent contractor for a job, they also delegate to that contractor all responsibility for workplace safety and are therefore not liable for injuries the contractor or its workers sustain while on the job.

The case started back in October 2017, when a local office of Freeway Insurance closed its doors at a commercial property owned by Kimco. Freeway’s lease required it to remove its sign at the property, so in November 2017, Freeway hired local contractor Francisco Ramirez to handle the removal.

Ramirez had trouble locating the electrical box that powered the sign, so he went on the roof to look around. While on the roof, he went into an unlocked cupola and was making his way across exposed beams when he fell through an opening, through a drywall ceiling, and landed on the sidewalk below, sustaining serious injuries. (The electrical box was, as it turns out, in a room on the ground floor, unfortunately.)

Five years later, court of appeal weighs in