January 13, 2025

Collins v. Diamond Generating Corp. (G062752, 12/11/24, certified for publication 1/8/25)

In a wrongful death action arising from an industrial accident, the Court of Appeal reversed a $104 million jury verdict and expanded the reach of the Privette doctrine, which generally precludes wrongful death or personal injury claims asserted by contractors’ employees (or their survivors) against those who hired the contractor. (Privette v. Superior Court (1993) 5 Cal.4th 689.) Expressly disagreeing with two other appellate decisions holding that the Privette doctrine may be asserted only by those who hire a contractor, the court held that because a parent company of the hirer is effectively in the chain of delegation that leads to the hiring of the contractor, the parent company is entitled to the same protection that the Privette doctrine affords the hirer itself.  

Although the Court of Appeal agreed that the Privette doctrine applied, it refused to direct entry of judgment in favor of the parent company, holding the evidence raised a triable issue under the “retained control” exception to the Privette doctrine. Under that exception, a hirer may be held liable for negligently exercising retained control over the contractor’s work in a manner that affirmatively contributes to injury. Despite prior Supreme Court decisions holding that a hirer’s supervisory activities generally do not constitute “affirmative contribution,” the Court of Appeal concluded a jury could find the parent company affirmatively contributed because, in conducting periodic performance reviews of the contractor’s plant manager, the parent company did not counsel the plant manager to provide better safety training for its employees.

Horvitz & Levy represented DGC on appeal.