A construction manager was found not liable, by the Circuit Court, for conditions that led to the plaintiff’s injuries while working at a construction site. The Illinois Appellate Court affirmed the ruling by Judge Marcia Maras.
The plaintiff brought a lawsuit against Turner Construction Co., after he was injured while working on a construction site. The Circuit Court of Cook County found in favor of the plaintiff’s Motion for Summary Judgment and the plaintiff appealed.
Turner was hired as the construction manager for the new high school campus for Grayslake Community High School District 127. The school hired Waukegan Steel, as a trade contractor for the project, who then subcontracted its work to Linden Erectors. The plaintiff worked for Linden Erectors.
In 2003, the plaintiff was working on the construction site and while trying to unravel a large steel cable, using a motorized lift, was injured. The cable he was guiding caused him to fall to the ground and land on his hands and knees. He got up and continued working—keeping his schedule for two months.
In 2005, the plaintiff sued Turner, Linden, and others for a cervical spine injury resulting from incident.
Turner was named by the plaintiff because it, “exercised significant operational and/or supervisor control over the trade contractors, particularly with respect to safety, but also as to details of construction means and methods.”
Plaintiff argued that under Section 414 of the Restatement (Second) of Torts, Turner’s control is an issue of material fact and also a factor in determining liability. The Appellate court explained that under Section 414 control, alone, does not trigger liability. Instead, Section 414, only applies when the defendant entrusts work to another, while maintaining control over some other part of the work.
Waukegan Steel was an independent contractor and had no relationship with Turner. Turner did not have anything to do with the selection of Linden; therefore Section 414 is inapplicable. Also, plaintiff made an argument under Restatement (second) of Torts section 343, which says that a land possessor is subject to liability when persons on his land are physically harmed. This argument failed as well, because Turner t was not in legal possession of the site. Read the full text, available at, Lawrence O’Connell v. Turner Construction Company, No. 1-09-3442.
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