Wal-Mart Stores East, LP v. Joseph Johnson
The Second District affirmed a jury verdict for an independent contractor's employee who was electrocuted by an ungrounded Wal-Mart junction box, holding the independent contractor defense did not bar the claim. The court applied the second exception to that defense—where the property owner negligently creates or approves a dangerous condition of which it has actual or constructive knowledge—and found sufficient evidence that Wal-Mart had constructive knowledge of the non-NEC-compliant junction box.
Key facts
- Johnson, a service technician employed by D.H. Pace Door Company—an independent contractor for Wal-Mart—was installing an automatic door at a Wal-Mart store and needed to connect it to power through an existing junction box.
- The junction box was in a key-card-restricted area accessible only to Wal-Mart personnel, and Wal-Mart's roughly 200 breakers were unlabeled, so Johnson used a voltmeter and removed the metal cover to verify voltage.
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Holdings
- A property owner generally owes no duty for injuries to an independent contractor's employee performing contracted work, but the second exception applies where the owner negligently creates…
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Why it matters
This opinion provides a clear application of the second (negligent-creation/concealed-danger) exception to the independent contractor defense in a premises-liability context, emphasizing that a property owner's control… — full analysis with a trial
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