Thomas Candelaria, III, as Personal Representative of the Estate of Thomas Candelaria, Jr. v. B.C. General Contractors, Inc.

Defendant Horizon, a company in the business of providing
cable television service, hired defendant BC, as an independent
contractor, to install cable television service in certain areas
of Ingham County. BC, in turn, hired Bob Rego, also as an
independent contractor, to perform a portion of the work
involving aerial construction. Rego employed plaintiff's
decedent, Thomas Candelaria, Jr. Part of Rego's job involved
laying cable wire across the surface of state trunkline M-106 in
Ingham County. On the day of the accident, Rego's foreman and
Candelaria were the only workers at the site. When the foreman
needed more cable to work with, he asked Candelaria to release
some slack from the reel. Instead of pulling slack from the reel
by hand, which was the standard procedure, Candelaria turned the
reel on its side and began pushing it like a wheelbarrow. Because
the foreman was concerned that Candelaria's action might tighten
the cable rather than create slack, he ran to the reel and
flipped it back up into its usual position. Just as the foreman
turned the reel, a passing car snagged a portion of the cable
that had become elevated from the surface of the highway. This
caused the reel to jerk forward into Candelaria, killing him
instantly.

Plaintiff filed a wrongful death action against defendants
alleging that that their negligence caused Candelaria's death. At
the close of the proofs, plaintiff's theory with respect to BC
was that it could be held liable in negligence on the basis of
its retention of control over the work performed by Rego.
Plaintiff's theory with respect to Horizon was that it could be
held liable in negligence pursuant to a nondelegable duty arising
by virtue of the fact that it had obtained a permit issued by the
Michigan Department of Transportation.

The jury found (1) that Horizon's negligence was a proximate cause of the accident, (2) that BC was negligent and that its negligence was a proximate cause of the accident, and (3) that Candelaria himself was negligent, that his negligence was a proximate cause of the accident, and that he was fifty percent at fault. The final judgment entered against defendants was in the amount of $248,248.48.

Unknown

Unknown

Reversed and remanded by the Michigan Court of Appeals. See: 600 N.W.2d 348 (Mich.App. 1999). Note: The date shown above is the date of the appellate court decision and not the trial date.