Chelcher v. Spider Staging Corp.

892 F.Supp. 710 (1995)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

P worked at sandblasting the top hemisphere of a spherical propane tank belonging to Hess.

P was employed by Industrial Maintenance Corporation ('IMC'). P did the work from movable, cage-like scaffold or 'spider' allegedly manufactured by D. P alleged disabling damage to his lower back from approximately five hours of sandblasting in an uncomfortable position. The scaffold had been mis-rigged such that it did not hang plumb from its suspension wires, but rather dragged along the side of the spherical tank. This mis-rigging caused the floor-platform of the spider to tilt increasingly away from the horizontal as it progressed up the side of the tank. P had worked on scaffolds in the past. Fully aware of this situation, P nonetheless boarded the spider cage and sandblasted from its increasingly tilted platform for about five hours. P sued D alleging five redundant causes of action against P and Hess. Both parties moved for summary judgment.