Joe D. Helmick and Tammy Helmick, Plaintiffs Below, Appellees v. Potomac Edison Company, a Maryland Corporation…

Summary

The West Virginia Supreme Court affirmed a $515,621.86 judgment against Potomac Edison for burns Joe Helmick suffered moving a guy wire on the utility's pole, holding the jury could find the utility negligent under the heightened standard of care owed by electric utilities as handlers of an inherently dangerous instrumentality. The court held the trial court properly directed a verdict on Potomac Edison's Mandolidis 'deliberate intention' cross-claim against Helmick's workers' compensation-immune employer, and rejected constitutional and equitable set-off challenges to the workers' compensation scheme. It announced a new rule that contracts of adhesion by which monopolies require indemnification for incidents in which the monopoly is at fault are void as against public policy, defeating Potomac Edison's indemnity claim against Hester under paragraph 7 of the 1982 agreement. The court also affirmed the evidentiary rulings on expert witnesses and photographs, the damages award, the jury composition, and the denial of Hester's cross-assignment for attorney's fees.