Salima v. Scherwood South, Inc.

• Decision Date: 26 October 1994
• Docket Number: No. 94-1482,94-1482
• Citation: 38 F.3d 929
• Parties: Michael SALIMA and Annette Salima, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. SCHERWOOD SOUTH, INCORPORATED, an Indiana Corporation, Scherwood Golf Concessions, Incorporated, an Indiana Corporation and Northern Indiana Public Service Company, an Indiana Corporation, Defendants-Appellees.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Seventh Circuit

Page 929

38 F.3d 929

Michael SALIMA and Annette Salima, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. SCHERWOOD SOUTH, INCORPORATED, an Indiana Corporation Scherwood Golf Concessions, Incorporated, an Indiana Corporation and Northern Indiana Public Service Company, an Indiana Corporation, Defendants-Appellees.

No. 94-1482.

United States Court of Appeals Seventh Circuit.

Argued Sept. 13, 1994.

Decided Oct. 26, 1994.

Saul I. Ruman, Ruman, Clements & Tobin, Hammond, IN, Frank C. Marino (argued), and Eugene I. Pavalon, Pavalon & Gifford, Chicago, IL, for plaintiffs-appellants.

Lester F. Murphy (argued), Burke, Murphy, Costanza & Cuppy, Palm Harbor, FL, for defendants-appellees.

Before LAY, ^* BAUER, and WOOD, Jr., Circuit Judges.

BAUER, Circuit Judge.

Michael Salima filed this lawsuit seeking damages for personal injuries that he sustained while working on the defendants' premises. The district court granted the defendants' motion for summary judgment. Salima appeals this decision, and we affirm.

I.

Scherwood South and Scherwood Golf Concessions (collectively referred to as "Scherwood") are Indiana corporations which between them own and operate the golf course, restaurant, swimming pool and parking lot at the Scherwood Country Club in Schererville, Indiana. The majority of both corporations is owned by Marvin Hanson who, along with his brother Ron, manages the Club on a day-to-day basis. Salima, an Illinois resident, was a friend of the Hanson brothers and occasionally did repair work around the Club for them.

In the parking lot of the Club, affixed to three poles, were three floodlights. One of those lights was connected to a timer located on another pole. Upstream from the timer, on the same pole, was a switchbox which controlled the power going into the timer. Upstream from the switchbox near the top of the pole was a transformer.

Sometime before Salima's injury, installation of underground water pipes for an adjacent home development caused the wires connecting the timer on one pole to the light on the other pole to be severed. The severed wires were subsequently spliced and taped together and left protruding from a large hole in the ground; nevertheless, it was discovered that the timer-activated light was not working properly.

The Hanson brothers first asked Joseph Jayjack, a Scherwood employee, to see if he could discover what the problem with the light was. His investigation revealed that there was power coming into and leading out of the timer, but no power at the area of the spliced wires. Not being an electrician, he decided to consult with a friend who was experienced in such matters before doing anything further.

The next day, Marvin Hanson asked Salima, who was on the premises doing other repairs, to see if he could determine what was wrong with the parking lot light. He did not inform Salima about Jayjack's inspection. Upon arriving at the parking lot, Salima measured the voltage at the timer and found no power there. He noticed that protruding from just below the transformer, about eighteen feet above the ground, was a group of wires that led into a conduit attached to the pole and running into the switchbox. Suspecting that therein was the problem, Salima borrowed a ladder from Ron Hanson who had since arrived on the scene. Salima climbed the ladder and, upon coming into contact with the wires, was electrocuted, and fell from the ladder, severely and permanently injuring himself.

Salima filed a negligence action against Scherwood South and Scherwood Golf. Finding that Salima sustained his injuries while performing the duties which he was hired to do and that the Hansons did not breach their duty to Salima, the court granted the defendants' motion for summary judgment.

II.

The decision to grant or deny summary judgment is governed by Rule 56 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure which states that summary judgment is proper only if there is no genuine issue of material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c). We review the district court's decision de novo, drawing all inferences from the record in a light most favorable to the non-moving party. Where there are genuine disputes of material fact, resolution is capable only through trial, and summary judgment is, therefore, inappropriate.

The parties correctly contend that Indiana law governs this case. Hubbard Mfg. Co., Inc. v. Greeson, 515 N.E.2d 1071, 1073 (Ind.1987) (Absent a more substantial connection elsewhere, Indiana's choice-of-law rules make the place of injury dispositive). To succeed on a negligence action in Indiana, a plaintiff must prove: (1) the existence of a duty owed by the defendant to the plaintiff; (2) a breach of that duty; and (3) an injury to the plaintiff that was proximately caused by the defendant's breach of duty. Northern Indiana Pub. Serv. Co. v. East Chicago Sanitary Dist., 590 N.E.2d 1067, 1072 (Ind.Ct.App.1992). As in most jurisdictions, the extent of a landowner's duty to an entrant is dictated by the status of the entrant. Burrell v. Meads, 569 N.E.2d 637, 639 (Ind.1991). The parties agree that Salima, as an independent contractor, was a business invitee.

A landowner's duty to an invitee while that invitee is on the premises is that of reasonable care. Id. While a landowner is not under a duty to provide an independent contractor with a safe workplace, landowners must warn independent contractors of latent or concealed perils on the premises. McClure v. Strother, 570 N.E.2d 1319, 1321 (Ind.Ct.App.1991). Despite the existence of a duty extending from Scherwood to Salima, the district court found that in the absence of a factual issue concerning breach of this duty, summary judgment was appropriate. We agree.

Salima contends that Scherwood breached its duty to him because the Hanson brothers neglected to inform him: (1) about the severed and spliced wires running between the poles; (2) that Ron Hanson had shut off the power going into the timer; and (3) of Jayjack's inspection and decision to consult with his friend. Salima contends that had he been told of any of these facts, he would not have climbed up the pole and inspected the transformer.

As stated by the Supreme Court of Indiana, a landowner is liable for harm caused to an invitee by a condition on the land only if the landowner: (1)...