In August of 1978, P sought temporary employment. He was hired by Pride Roofing Company (D) to work on a two- or three-day roof repair at Monticello's (D) apartment building. P had no experience in the roofing business. The building has a flat asphalt roof. The job consisted of removing the old asphalt and replacing it with fresh asphalt. There were two wires that cut diagonally across the corner of the building; one was three feet above the roof, and the other was nine and one-half feet above the roof and parallel to the lower wire. P contacted the lower wire numerous times without incident since the wire was not charged with electricity. He did not notice the second wire. P had no experience with electrical wires. On the second day, the lower wire interfered with the progress of the job. P's supervisor told P to 'tie off' the lower wire to the upper wire. A rope was thrown over the top wire, and the wire was pulled down within P's reach so that it could be lashed to the lower wire. P grasped the top wire with both hands and received a shock of 2,400 volts. P underwent four amputation operations, one skin graft operation, and brain surgery to relieve an abscess. Both of P's arms were amputated below the elbows. P suffered from loss of use and control of his left side and from pain. The jury determined that P was not negligent. City (D) owned and operated the electrical system that included the wire grasped by P. The wire was uninsulated and 'hot.' It carried 2,400 volts and led directly to a transformer on a pole approximately six feet from the roof. The transformer was obscured by a tree. P testified that he never noticed it. The wire and the lower unelectrified ground wire were installed in the 1960s by City (D) over the then-one-story apartment building. A second story was later added to the building, which brought the wires in close proximity to the roof. City (D) had no inspection and maintenance program, had not recently trimmed the tree, and there were no warning signs anywhere in the immediate vicinity. City (D)admitted that stringing an uninsulated high-voltage wire over a residential property was contrary to its policy. P's expert witness testified that City (D) had violated four provisions of the National Electric Safety Code. The jury found that City (D) was negligent and 70 percent responsible for causing the accident. Monticello (D) hired Pride (D) to replace the roof and inspected the roof with Pride's (D) representative. Monticello (D) knew about the transformer. Gough, who co-owned Monticello (D), watched from the ground as the top wire was pulled down within P's reach. No one warned P. No one from Monticello (D) requested City (D) to turn off the power or to otherwise abate the dangerous condition. The jury found that Monticello (D) was negligent and 20 percent responsible for causing the accident. Pride's (D) owner noticed the wires and traced them to the nearby electrical pole. He also observed the transformer. Neither of Pride's (D) employees supervising the job knew that the wire was electrified, but both guessed it was either a lead-in wire or a telephone wire. Both assumed it was insulated. One of the two threw the rope to P and instructed him to tie the wires together. The jury found that Pride (D) was negligent and 10 percent responsible for causing the accident. City (D) appealed, claiming that Pride’s (D) negligence was a superseding cause.

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