Ayala

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

I. The Underlying Construction Project

Tyler is a general contractor working in the home construction industry. In 2014 and 2015 Tyler contracted with D&D Construction Specialties, Inc. (D&D), an excavation company, to perform various remediation tasks on a residential construction site in Bel-Air, such as clearing, grading, and shoring the land. D&D employed Luis as a construction worker.1 The 2014 and 2015 agreements each contained an identical set of rules related to worksite safety. These rules required D&D to comply with all applicable safety regulations in conducting its work, and to keep the worksite “clean and free of trash, debris, or material waste caused by its employees or its work.” On May 1, 2015, Tyler expanded the scope of D&D’s original responsibilities to include building a large hole to collect water runoff and pump it offsite (sump pump). This entailed digging a shaft approximately 50 feet deep and installing a series of prefabricated concrete liners to secure the sump pump’s walls.

Because some of the parties share surnames, we refer to Luis by his first name. No disrespect is intended.

2 Once D&D completed its…