Moss v. Rowe Construction Co.

State: Illinois

Court: 4th District Appellate

Docket No: 4-03-0004 Rel

Case Date: 12/18/2003

NO. 4-03-0004

IN THE APPELLATE COURT

OF ILLINOIS

FOURTH DISTRICT

JOHN L. MOSS, Independent Administrator
of the Estate of JOHN E. MOSS, Deceased,
                 Plaintiff-Appellant,
                 v.
ROWE CONSTRUCTION COMPANY, a/k/a
CULLINAN & SON, INC., a Delaware
Corporation,
                 Defendant-Appellee,
                 and
LAESCH ELECTRIC, INC.,
                 Third-Party Defendant.

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Appeal from
Circuit Court of
McLean County
No. 00L195

Honorable
G. Michael Prall,
Judge Presiding.

JUSTICE MYERSCOUGH delivered the opinion of the court:

In December 2002, the trial court entered summaryjudgment for defendant on plaintiff's single-count complaint innegligence. Plaintiff appeals. We reverse and remand.

I. BACKGROUND

On February 15, 1999, plaintiff's decedent, John E.Moss, was killed while working as an employee for subcontractorLaesch Electric, Inc. (Laesch). Laesch was under contract toRowe Construction Company (Rowe) to remove traffic controldevices and foundations and install new ones as part of Rowe'scontract with the State of Illinois, Department of Transportation(IDOT) for improvements to Veterans Parkway in Normal.

Under the general contract between IDOT and Rowe, Rowewas required to maintain control of safety on the project:

"Article VIII. Safety: Accident Prevention:

1. In the performance of this contractthe contractor shall comply with all applicable [f]ederal, [s]tate, and local laws governing safety, health, and sanitation (23 CFR[