Kinsman v. Unocal Asbestos case: Landowner-Hirer Liability

Read the discussion in the Kinsman v. Unocal asbestos case, where landowner-hirer liability is discussed.

We therefore disagree with the Court of Appeal in the present case inasmuch as it holds that a landowner-hirer can be liable to a contractor’s employee only when it has retained supervisory control and affirmatively contributes to the employee’s injury in the exercise of that control.

Rather, consistent with the above discussion, the hirer as landowner may be independently liable to the contractor’s employee, even if it does not retain control over the work, if: (1) it knows or reasonably should know of a concealed, pre-existing hazardous condition on its premises; (2) the contractor does not know and could not reasonably ascertain the condition; and, (3) the landowner fails to warn the contractor.

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