Charles Pamplin, Respondent/cross-appellant v. Safway Services, Llc, Appellant/cross-respondent, 75634-6

Safway Services subcontracted to construct scaffolds for Parker Drilling; a partially built 11-foot scaffold (2-foot base) was left unsecured and not completed, violating WAC requirements.
Safway crew removed an access ladder section and did not affix a red tag; there was conflicting testimony about whether red barricade tape was left around the scaffold.
Later that evening Pamplin climbed a partial ladder section after seeing a green tag on the scaffold (and no red tape visible to him); the scaffold tipped and Pamplin was injured.
Pamplin sued Safway for negligent erection/maintenance of the scaffold; the jury found Safway 65% at fault and awarded damages (reduced for plaintiff fault).
Safway moved for judgment as a matter of law arguing lack of proximate-cause evidence and requested a superseding-cause jury instruction alleging a third party altered the signals; both requests were denied by the trial court and are challenged on appeal.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether evidence was sufficient to submit proximate cause to the jury	Pamplin: hazardous, unsecured scaffold itself proximately caused the injury; circumstantial and expert testimony suffice	Safway: no evidence linking its conduct to the signals/green tag that induced Pamplin to climb; therefore cannot prove proximate cause	Court: sufficient physical, circumstantial, and expert evidence that negligent construction and lack of securing proximately caused injury; denial of JMOL affirmed
Whether court erred by refusing superseding-cause instruction	Pamplin: (opposed) third-party alteration was foreseeable and did not supersede Safway’s negligence	Safway: a third party’s unauthorized alteration of tags/ladder was an unforeseeable superseding act breaking causation chain	Court: refusal proper — alleged intervening act was foreseeable, not extraordinary, did not change harm type, and did not operate independently; superseding-cause instruction not warranted

Cowsert v. Crowley Maritime Corp., 101 Wn.2d 402 (standard for judgment as a matter of law)
Schooley v. Pinch's Deli Market, Inc., 134 Wn.2d 468 (elements of negligence and proximate cause analysis)
Campbell v. ITE Imperial Corp., 107 Wn.2d 807 (definition and Restatement-based factors for superseding cause)
Rucshner v. ADT, Sec. Sys., Inc., 149 Wn. App. 665 (proximate cause as mixed question for jury)
Smith v. Acme Paving Co., 16 Wn. App. 389 (concurrent causation; third-party negligence does not automatically supersede)