§52.2 Duty to Independent Contractors Working on Premises

1.  Daniel Pantoja Garcia vs. Norfolk Southern Railway Company,
E2006-02674-COA-R3-CV   (Tenn. Ct. App. Feb. 22, 2008).

The Court's Summary:

"In this appeal of a directed verdict in a wrongful death case, Daniel Pantoja Garcia (“Husband”) claims that Norfolk Southern Railway Company (“Norfolk Southern”) was negligent in failing to warn his now-deceased wife, Lydia Garcia (“Wife”), of the presence of diesel fuel inside a fuel tank that Wife, as an employee of Progress Rail Services Corporation (“Progress Rail”), was assigned to dismantle. As Wife was cutting the tank with a torch-cutter on Norfolk Southern’s property, the tank exploded, killing Wife. The trial court granted a directed verdict because it found no evidence that Norfolk Southern owed any duty in this case. We affirm."   View opinion.