General Electric Co. v. Moritz

The Court today abandons long-standing principles of premises liability law in its *219effort to shield landowners and occupiers from liability for known premises defects. In doing so, the Court articulates an exceptional no-duty rule for the premises liability claims of independent contractors’ employees, but then fails to adhere to it. According to the Court, the existence of a premises owner’s duty in these cases ought to be governed by the general idea that an independent contractor is empowered to do whatever is necessary to carry out work in a safe manner, and that the duty of care should…