Michael F. Schmidt Obtains Affirmation Of Summary Disposition In Wrongful Death Construction Accident Case

Amy Felty, Personal Representative of the Estate of Leo Felty, Jr., Deceased v Skanska USA Building, Inc., per curiam decision of the Michigan Court of Appeals docket number 297991 (2011), the Court of Appeals affirmed summary disposition granted to the defendant general contractor, Skanska USA Building, Inc. in a lawsuit filed on behalf of the Estate of Leo Felty, Jr. who was killed when he fell from a scaffold on the University of Michigan Museum of Art Project. The Court of Appeals agreed with the trial court that the plaintiff had failed to meet the requisites of the common work area liability test by failing to establish that the absence of a guardrail on the scaffold created a high degree of risk to a significant number of workers, since only two employees of one subcontractor were exposed to the risk which was not known by the general contractor.