WENDY CLIFTON GASKA, AS PERSONAL REPRESENTATIVE OF THE ESTATE OF JASON H. CLIFTON, DECEASED, APPELLANT,
v.
EXXON CORPORATION AND EVERGLADES LAND COMPANY, APPELLEES

Fla. 4th DCA | 1990-03-07
Nos. 88-0825, 88-0826
DOWNEY, ANSTEAD and WALDEN, JJ., concur.
558 So. 2d 457 Florida District Court of Appeal, Fourth District (1990)

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Synopsis

Wendy Clifton Gaska brought a wrongful death action against Exxon Corporation and Everglades Land Company after her husband was killed attempting to cut open a gasoline storage tank with a power saw. The trial court granted summary judgment for both defendants, but the appellate court affirmed as to Everglades and reversed as to Exxon, finding genuine issues of material fact regarding Exxon's duty to de-gas the tank and the tank's ownership.


Holding

Exxon cannot avoid its nondelegable duty to de-gas tanks or check for explosive materials by selling them "as is, where is," and genuine issues of material fact exist regarding whether industry standards required de-gassing and regarding tank ownership. Everglades, as a landowner, owes no common law duty to provide a safe workplace for subcontractor employees.


Headnotes

[1] A landowner owes no common law duty to provide a safe workplace for employees of a subcontractor working on the premises.

[2] A seller's duty to de-gas a potentially dangerous product, such as a gasoline storage tank, cannot be avoided by selling the product 'as is, where is'.

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Key Quotes

“Exxon's responsibility for this dangerous condition cannot be avoided by merely selling the tank "as is" since its duty is nondelegable.”

Establishes that Exxon cannot disclaim responsibility through "as is" sales language when a nondelegable duty exists.

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Facts & Procedural History

Jason Clifton was killed when he attempted to cut open a gasoline storage tank with a power saw. Exxon had sold the tank without de-gassing it or chec…

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Opinion of the Court
PER CURIAM.

PER CURIAM.

The plaintiff/appellant, Wendy Clifton Gaska, brought an action for wrongful death against Exxon Corporation for the death of her husband, Jason Clifton, who was killed when he attempted to cut open a gasoline storage tank with a power saw. Mrs. Gaska sued Exxon and alleged that Exxon had failed to degas the tank prior to the time that it sold the tank, and that it failed to check for the presence of explosive materials. Mrs. Gaska sued Everglades because it was the owner of the land where the gasoline tank was stored.

The trial court entered a final summary judgment in favor of the defendants, Everglades and Exxon Corporation.

We affirm the summary judgment which was entered in favor of Everglades. There is no common law duty which requires a landowner to provide a safe work place for employees of a subcontractor who is working on the premises. See Goodman v. Kendall Gate-Investco, Inc., 395 So. 2d 240 (Fla. 3d DCA 1981.)

As to the summary judgment which was entered in favor of Exxon on the counts for strict liability and negligence, we reverse. Exxon argues that it sold its tanks “as is, where is” and therefore it had no duty to degas the tanks.

We reject this argument. Plaintiff's expert, Patrick McGinley, testified by affidavit that Exxon’s actions were in contravention of applicable industry codes.

Thus there is a question of whether industry standards required Exxon to degas the tank before allowing it to be removed from the site or whether Exxon was required to check for explosive materials prior to any sale. Exxon’s responsibility for this dangerous condition cannot be avoided by merely selling the tank “as is” since its duty is nondelegable. Noack v. B.L. Watters, Inc., 410 So. 2d 1375 (Fla. 5th DCA 1982) (employer may be vicariously liable for acts of independent contractors to whom he delegates duty expressly undertaken under specific agreement or which is inherently dangerous.)

Additional disputed issues of fact also precluded summary judgment, one being, whether or not the tank in question was an Exxon tank. Mr. Goss, who was hired by A & W to excavate the tank, shed some light on this issue when he testified in his deposition that these tanks were removed from Exxon stations. He testified that he showed Clifton where to deliver the tanks and testified that Clifton was the one who took the tanks to the site for cutting. Goss testified that it was the Exxon tanks which were to be cut by Clifton.

Additionally Clarence Hull, the president of A & W, indicated in his deposition that it was the Exxon tanks which were removed and taken to the Lox Road site for cutting. Although this testimony does not conclusively establish that it was an Exxon tank which was involved in the accident, it does permit an inference that the tanks belonged to Exxon, thus raising an issue of fact as to ownership which precluded summary judgment.

Accordingly we affirm in part, reverse in part and remand for further consistent proceedings.

DOWNEY, ANSTEAD and WALDEN, JJ., concur.


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