Is a property owner liable for injuries sustained by an independent contractor due to a hazardous condition known to the owner and discoverable by the contractor?

Acosta v. MAS Realty LLC.

Facts: A property owner displays a handwritten sign to warn of a hazardous condition on the property. The owner hires an independent contractor for work unrelated to the hazardous condition. The contractor does not perform a safety inspection prior to beginning work and does not discover the hazardous condition or handwritten sign. The contractor needs to access the hazardous condition to complete their work and is injured due to the hazardous condition. The independent contractor makes a demand on the owner to recover their losses due to the injuries.

Claim: The independent contractor claims the owner is liable since the owner did not warn the contractor of a known hazardous condition which the contractor was not hired to fix, and the hazardous condition was not discoverable by the contractor as they have no duty to inspect the owner’s property.

Counterclaim: The owner claims they are not liable for the injuries since the responsibility for the safety of the contractor is with the contractor as the hazardous condition was discoverable by the contractor performing a reasonable safety inspection of their worksite.

Holding: A California appeals court holds the contractor may not recover their losses due to injuries from the owner since the responsibility for the safety of the contractor is with the contractor as the hazardous condition was discoverable by the contractor performing a reasonable safety inspection of their worksite. [Acosta v. MAS Realty LLC. (2023) 96 CA5th 635]

Acosta v. MAS Realty LLC.

Is a property owner liable for the injuries of a temporary worker after falling on the job?