## Facts

- Alice I. Mavrikidis was severely burned when her car was struck by a dump truck that ran a red light, hit a telephone pole, and overturned, spilling hot asphalt onto her vehicle.
- The truck was driven by Gerald Petullo and registered to Petullo Brothers, Inc.; Gerald stated he could not stop at the light “because of the load on his truck.”
- Gerald was transporting hot asphalt to a paving job at Clar Pine Servicenter, whose owner had orally hired Angelo Petullo/Petullo Brothers to perform asphalt and concrete work as part of a service-station renovation.
- The Clar Pine–Petullo arrangement was informal and included a credit against Petullo Brothers’ outstanding debt to Clar Pine in exchange for the paving work.
- On the morning of the accident, Newark Asphalt loaded asphalt onto the Petullo truck.
- Post-accident inspection revealed the truck was overweight in multiple respects and had mechanical defects, including a nonfunctional right rear brake.
- Plaintiff’s expert attributed the primary cause of the accident to excessive overloading.

## Issues

1. Whether Clar Pine, as contractee, was vicariously liable for Petullo Brothers’ negligence under the Majestic Realty exceptions: retained control, knowingly engaging an incompetent contractor, or inherently dangerous work.
2. Whether Clar Pine was directly liable for negligent hiring/selection of Petullo Brothers.
3. Whether transporting and paving hot asphalt is inherently dangerous work creating a nondelegable duty.
4. Whether Newark Asphalt owed a common-law duty not to overload the Petullo truck.

## Decision

- The Supreme Court of New Jersey affirmed the Appellate Division’s reversal of the judgment against Clar Pine.
- Clar Pine was not vicariously liable because it did not control the manner and means of the work, did not knowingly hire an incompetent contractor, and did not contract for inherently dangerous work as defined by Majestic Realty.
- Clar Pine was not directly liable for negligent hiring because the record did not show it knew or should have known of disqualifying incompetence or unsafe conditions (e.g., suspended license, lack of insurance, mechanical defects).
- The Court held Newark Asphalt owed a common-law duty not to overload trucks because overloading foreseeably increases the risk of highway accidents.
- The matter was remanded for reallocation of fault among the remaining defendants after Clar Pine’s removal from the verdict.

## Legal Principles

- A contractee is generally not liable for an independent contractor’s negligence.
- Vicarious liability may attach only if: (1) the contractee retains control over the operative details (manner and means) of the work; (2) the contractee knowingly engages an incompetent contractor; or (3) the work is inherently dangerous such that special precautions are required and the duty is nondelegable.
- General oversight or coordination of a project is insufficient; liability requires control over the specific details that produced the harm.
- Negligent hiring is a basis of direct liability and requires proof the employer knew or should have known the contractor was incompetent or unfit, not merely that negligence occurred during performance.
- Work is not “inherently dangerous” for nondelegable-duty purposes when reasonable precautions can eliminate the risk; dangers caused by collateral negligence (e.g., overloading, faulty brakes) do not convert ordinary work into inherently dangerous activity.
- A party that loads a vehicle may owe a common-law duty to avoid overloading when it is foreseeable that overloading will create unreasonable risk to the public.

## Conclusion

The court removed the service-station owner from the verdict, holding that none of the recognized exceptions justified imposing vicarious liability for an independent contractor’s negligent trucking and that the evidence did not support negligent hiring; it also recognized that an asphalt loader may be directly liable for foreseeable harm caused by overloading a truck and remanded for reallocation of fault among the remaining defendants.


Mavrikidis v. Petullo, 153 N.J. 117, 707 A.2d 977 (N.J. 1998)