Torrington Co. v. Hill

Ruffin, Judge.

Billy Hill died when the walls of a trench in which he was working collapsed. At the time of the accident, Hill was an independent contractor working with Harold Zeigler d/b/a H & D Backhoe Service (“H & D”). H & D was hired by the Torrington Company (“Torrington”) to dig a trench and install pipe on Torrington’s property. In Case No. A95A0997, Hill’s widow sued both H & D and Torrington for negligence, and in Case No. A95A1001 she sued only H & D, who later filed a third-party complaint against Torrington for contribution. The trial court denied Torrington’s motions for summary…