Donahue v. Makar Installations, No. 21-30212 (5th Cir. 2022)
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Plaintiffs filed a negligence suit under Louisiana law against many parties, including Defendant, an entity that participated in a construction project at the Republic National Distribution Company (“Republic”) warehouse in New Orleans, Louisiana. Defendant’s specific role was to build a concrete mezzanine platform. Months after Defendant completed its work, Plaintiff was working on the platform when an unguarded ceiling fan struck him in the head. The district court granted Defendant’s motion for summary judgment. The district court found that while Defendant had a general duty to provide a safe working environment and to refrain from creating hazardous conditions, it did not owe several “heightened duties” that Plaintiffs argued applied. The district court also held that Defendant did not breach its general duty because it repeatedly warned and admonished Republic about the fan, which was turned off from the date of a prior incident until the date of Plaintiff’s injury.
The Fifth Circuit affirmed the district court’s decision granting summary judgment in Defendant’s favor, holding that Plaintiffs failed to show there is a genuine issue of fact as to whether Defendant breached his duty to refrain from creating a hazardous condition. The court reasoned that Plaintiffs did not point to any authority which support their theory as to the breadth of Defendant’s general duty. Instead, the jurisprudence limits Defendant’s duty, particularly in circumstances where the contractor lacks control or responsibility for the worksite at the time of the injury.
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