Otero v. Jordon Restaurant Enterprises

895 P.2d 243 (1995)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

D hired an independent contractor to expand the premises of its restaurant and bar. The contractor assembled metal bleachers to view a large-screen television. Four months after the bleachers were installed, they collapsed. P fell and was injured. D conceded in the trial court that the cause of the collapse was the contractor's faulty and negligent assembly of the bleachers. D filed a third-party complaint against the independent contractor and against the manufacturer and distributor of the bleachers. P filed a motion for partial summary judgment, seeking an adjudication that D was vicariously liable, or jointly and severally liable, for the contractor's negligence in assembling the bleachers. The motion was granted. D had a nondelegable duty to maintain safety in areas over which it had control. D requested jury instructions that would have allowed the jury to compare the contractor's negligence with the alleged negligence of the City of Albuquerque (the City), which issued the construction permit for the expansion work and the alleged negligence of the architect who drew up the plans for the project. The trial court refused those instructions. P got a verdict for $47,000 against D and the contractor, jointly and severally. D appealed.