Kelley v. General Telephone Co. of Southwest

INGRAHAM, Circuit Judge:

The issues in this Texas diversity ease concern the liability of an occupier to an invitee, in this case an employee of an independent contractor hired by the occupier to work on the occupier’s land. We affirm the district court’s judgment, entered on the jury verdict, for the employee. In the third party action based on an indemnity agreement between the occupier and the independent contractor, we reverse the district court’s judgment in favor of the occupier.

I

The facts are basically undisputed. In July 1967 Max Franklin Kelley, the plaintiff-appellee, was working as…