Sponsler

INTRODUCTION

Joe Sponsler, an employee of KM Industrial, Inc. (KMI), was injured when he stepped into an 18- to 24-inch depression in the floor of a feed channel in which he had been working. He sued the general contractor on the project, Kiewit Infrastructure West Co. (Kiewit), which had hired KMI, and sought recovery on causes of action for negligence and premises liability. The trial court granted Kiewit’s motion for summary judgment, and this appeal followed. Central to this appeal are Hooker v. Department of Transportation (2002) 27 Cal.4th 198 (Hooker) and Kinsman v. Unocal Corp. (2005) 37 Cal.4th 659 (Kinsman). In Hooker, supra, 27 Cal.4th at pages 202, 213, the California Supreme Court concluded that the hirer of an independent contractor may be held liable for injuries sustained by the contractor’s employee if the hirer retained control over safety conditions at a worksite and negligently exercised that control in a manner that “affirmatively contributed” to the employee’s injuries. In Kinsman, supra, 37 Cal.4th at pages 664, 673-674, the California Supreme Court concluded that a landowner might be liable for injuries sustained by the contractor’s employee from an…