Torres

Plaintiff and appellant Jose Torres (Torres) appeals from the summary judgment entered against him and in favor of defendants Michael and Ona Reardon (the Reardons). Because there is no evidence that Torres’s injuries resulted from any act of negligence by, or attributable to, the Reardons, or that any circumstances existed that would impose upon them liability for Torres’s injuries under the peculiar risk doctrine, the trial court properly granted summary judgment.

Factual and Procedural Background

During the years of 1980 to 1988, Jose Torres was a self-employed gardener, doing business under the name of Jose Torres Gardening Service. From approximately 1984 until June of 1988, as part of his gardening business, Torres performed weekly general gardening services at several homes on Cricklewood Street in the City of Torrance, California, including the home of the Reardons.

Early in 1988, the Reardons began discussing with Torres the possibility of employing him to trim a 65- to 70-foot-tall tree located in their front yard. In mid-June of that year, it was agreed that Torres would trim the tree for a price of $350. Final arrangements for the trimming were made between…