Safeco Insur. Co. v. Mobile Power and Light Co., Inc.
Alabama Supreme Court
810 So.2d 756 (2001)
After a 1994 fire, the Loyds hired Mobile Power and Light Company (defendant) to repair their home's electrical system, which passed a county inspection at the time; a different company later performed a separate repair after an early-1996 fire, and the house burned down again later in 1996. Safeco Insurance (plaintiff), which paid the Loyds' claim, hired an expert who identified three possible electrical-installation defects as the fire's likely cause and sued Mobile Power on a res ipsa loquitur theory; the county inspector testified Mobile Power's original work met code and the applicable standard of care. The trial court granted Mobile Power summary judgment, the court of appeals reversed relying on a case involving a repair made just 30 minutes before a fire, and Mobile Power appealed to the Alabama Supreme Court.
Whether a negligence action based on res ipsa loquitur requires the defendant to have had full management and control of the instrumentality that caused the injury, that the accident would not have happened except for negligence of those in control, and that the plaintiff's injury resulted from the accident.