Harvey Machine Co. v. J. O. Ross Engineering Corp.

The J. O. Ross Engineering Corporation appeals from a judgment for the plaintiffs wherein it is declared that the defendant is obligated under a contract to indemnify the plaintiffs Harvey Machine Company, Inc. and Sam Blau, an employee of Harvey, for damages resulting from the alleged negligence of those plaintiffs. The plaintiff Pacific Indemnity Company is Harvey’s insurer.

The cause was submitted to the trial court on stipulated facts. Harvey entered into a contract with the defendant for the installation by the defendant of certain equipment in its new industrial plant more fully described in the opinion in Harvey Machine Co., Inc. v. Hatzel & Buehler, Inc., ante, p. 445 [ 6 Cal.Rptr. 284 , 353 P.2d 924 ], a companion case this day filed. The provisions of the contract here involved, that is, the indemnification and hold harmless clauses, are identical to those set out in that decision.

Pursuant to its contract the defendant entered upon performance of its duties while the work of other contractors was in progress. An employee of the defendant, Paul Marasse, while engaged in the performance of the defendant’s contractual obligations, fell into an excavation on the premises…