Bush v. SECO Electric Co.

SECO Electric Company (SECO) (defendant) installed conveyor wiring at a recycling plant without an emergency shut-off button inside the pit where employees, including Jerri Bush (plaintiff), would enter to clean up stray cans; unaware of the safety protocol to shut off the conveyor before entering, Bush left it running while shoveling cans, and it caught her clothing and severed her arm. Bush sued SECO for negligently failing to wire an in-pit shut-off, but SECO argued Indiana's "acceptance rule" — under which an owner's acceptance of a contractor's completed work shifts all future liability to the owner, cutting off the contractor's duty to third parties lacking privity — barred her claim; the district court agreed and granted SECO summary judgment.