A worker was mowing at a golf course. A tree fell and injured him.
The tree had suffered decay that was discoverable by simply pulling back the ivy around the base of the tree.
The injured man sued the golf club and the home owner’s association.
The golf club had retained the same contractor for gardening and landscaping for over thirty years. The contractor’s duties included tree inspections. The injured man was one of the contractor’s employees.
The trial court dismissed the case. The Court of Appeals upheld the dismissal, and ruled that under Washington personal injury law, a landowner who invites others who have “superior knowledge onto their property to make repairs on the property should not be required to know of defects the repairs were intended to discover and remedy or to anticipate defects within the expertise of the experts.”[1]
Because the golf course hired the contractor to, in part, inspect the trees on the grounds, the golf course was not liable when a tree failed and collapsed on one of the contractor’s employees.
There is a common misconception that if you are injured on another’s property, the landowner or their insurance company is always responsible for the injury. This is often not the case, or is less than clear. It is a good idea to have a free personal injury case evaluation early.
By personal injury attorney Travis Scott Eller
[1] Gaona v. Glen Acres, unpublished opinion (No. 71022-2-I November 17, 2014).