A California doctrine that protects companies that hire independent contractors from liability for injuries to contractors’ workers can also shield property owners who did not directly hire the contractor, a state appeals court ruled.
In Schurman Family Company TIC v. Superior Court of Alameda County; Phuokhao Bounxaysana et al., the California Court of Appeal, 1st Appellate District, reversed a trial court ruling on Wednesday that had allowed a worker’s negligence and premises liability claims against a warehouse owner to proceed.
Schurman Family Co. owned an Oakland warehouse and leased portions of the property to Verizon for communications equipment. Verizon hired L.D. Strobel as an independent contractor to perform work on the site…