Suarez v. Pacific Northstar Mechanical, Inc.

Opinion

RUVOLO, P. J.

I. INTRODUCTION

A subcontractor’s employee, while working at a multiemployer construction site, was slightly injured by a preexisting, nonobvious hazard that had not been created in the course of the subcontractor’s work. The employee told his foreman about the incident, but the foreman did not report it to the general contractor. Shortly thereafter, two employees of the general contractor were severely injured by the same hazard.

Can the injured employees of the general contractor sue the subcontractor for negligence, based on the subcontractor’s failure to warn the general…