Texas Statute Bars Property Owner’s Liability for Injury to Independent Contractors
Vanderbeek v. San Jacinto Methodist Hosp., 246 S.W.3d 346 (Tex. App. 2008)
A plumber working on a remodel project for San Jacinto Methodist Hospital cut and capped a drainage pipe from a sink in an adjacent room. Although he instructed a hospital employee that the sink was out of order and should not be used, hospital employees poured a drain cleaner into the sink when it wouldn’t drain. When the plumber returned to remove the drainage line cap, a caustic liquid came out of the pipe, causing him chemical burns. He sued the hospital for negligence for allowing caustic drain cleaner into the sink when he had given notice it was not to be used. Read More