Landlord Potentially Liable for Injury to Tenant's Independent Contractor

What Happened: After the lease ended, a shopping center tenant hired a self-employed independent contractor to remove an exterior sign from the space. While performing the work, the contractor fell through a roof opening and suffered serious injuries. He sued the landlord, rather than the tenant, for damages, but the trial court dismissed the case, citing a California rule called the Privette doctrine holding that a person who hires an independent contractor isn’t liable for the injuries the contractor suffers doing the work.

Ruling: The California appeals court ruled that Privette didn’t apply and reversed the lower court.

Reasoning: As in just about all states, landlords in California are responsible for injuries on their property due to lack of reasonable care unless the hazard is open and obvious, which wasn’t the case in this situation. True, the Privette doctrine assigns contractors liability for their own safety in performing the work. However, the court continued, the exemption from liability covers only the person who hires the contractor, in this case, the tenant. And since the landlord wasn’t the hiring party, Privette didn’t apply and the lower court was wrong to conclude that the contractor couldn’t sue the landlord for damages.

• Ramirez v. PK I Plaza 580 SC LP, 2022 Cal. App. LEXIS 933