Sims, Lawrence & Broghammer’s Noah Hallam won his Motion for Summary Judgment in a case involving personal injury claims of an employee of a licensed contractor hired by the homeowner clients who was injured while performing work on the client’s property.

Plaintiff fell from a ladder while descending from the client’s roof as part of his work. Plaintiff argued that the ladder was a dangerous condition and not part of the work site. Attorney Hallam argued that Plaintiff’s claims were barred by the Privette Doctrine which provides that the hirer of a licensed contractor cannot be sued for any personal injuries sustained by that contractor’s employees while performing the work they were hired for unless the hirer affirmatively contributed to the injury.

The Verdict

The Court found that Plaintiff’s attempts to escape the Privette Doctrine were unsupported by California law and granted the MSJ in its entirety.