KINSMAN v. UNOCAL ASBESTOS CASE
Landowner Liability in Abrons v. Richfield Oil Corp. case

Read the discussion in the Kinsman v. Unocal asbestos case, where landowner liability with respect to the Abrons v. Richfield Oil Corp. case is discussed.

Abrons v. Richfield Oil Corp. (1961) 190 Cal.App.2d 640, cited by Unocal, is not to the contrary. In Abrons, the employee of an independent contractor was injured when an oil-saturated ditch on the property of the hirer, the Richfield Oil Corporation, caved in.

The Court of Appeal affirmed the nonsuit judgment against the employee, stating: “ ‘The Richfield employees exercised no supervision or control of the [contractor’s] employees in the course of the latter’s work . . . .’. . .The appellant observed that the ground that was being excavated was ‘oil saturated.’

His testimony, as set forth in the settled statement, was that the ‘deeper he dug the more oil saturation manifested itself and there was an oily odor within the excavation.’ Braun furnished no shoring materials. No one ‘from the Richfield Oil Corporation was present at any time and no one from Richfield observed the work or assisted in any way.’ ”

Although the Abrons court focused on the hirer’s lack of supervision and control, the fact that is most telling from the perspective of the present issue is that the hazard in question, the oil-saturated ground, although perhaps initially concealed, soon became apparent, and the contractor nonetheless failed to take appropriate safety precautions.

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