Paul Ypolito Paz, by next friends Tony Paz and Maria Paz, sued Marvin M. Black Company and its employees Michael M. Black, Alton Pardue, Barry Atkinson, Richard Hardin, and others, in tort and contract actions for damages for injuries received by Paul Ypolito Paz when he fell from a scaffold at a construction project. Appellee Marvin M. Black Company was the general contractor on the project; Paz was an employee of the masonry subcontractor Salazar. The scaffold, which was built by the subcontractor Salazar’s employees allegedly without proper direction and inspection of the employees of the general contractor, collapsed on the day following heavy rains, when the ground was soggy and muddy. Plaintiffs provide evidence that a bulldozer was being operated under the supervision or direction of the foreman of Marvin M. Black Company to clean up debris, and came within inches of the scaffold or hit the scaffold immediately before it collapsed. OSHA officials cited Marvin M. Black Company for violations in connection with the use of unstable objects to support the scaffold, improper bracing, and failure to secure the scaffold to the structure being built.
*608 Paz was paid workers’ compensation benefits by his employer, the subcontractor Salazar. On grounds of immunity, the trial court granted summary judgment to Marvin M. Black Company and its employees; Paz appeals. Held:
1. The trial court did not err in granting summary judgment to the general contractor Marvin M. Black Company, as the statutory employer under OCGA § 34-9-8.
Wright Assoc. v. Rieder,
2. We are required by
Long v. Marvin M. Black Co.,
The individual appellees, employees of Marvin M. Black Company, urge us to make various distinctions removing any liability for injuries caused by breach of contractual duties of safety implementation, inspection and supervision provided for in their employer’s contract. However, it is well established that breach of contractual duties may give rise to an action for damages for personal injuries. See
Williams v. Nico Indus.,
We agree that none of the employees of the general contractor Marvin M. Black Company may be sued by virtue of their being an “alter ego” of the company or acting in a representative capacity (see
Hay v. Britt Realty,
The individual appellees strenuously urge us to hold as a matter of law that none of them committed an act of “active” or “affirmative” negligence, as they contend was the case in the Long decision. *609 However, the rationale of that decision does not authorize any such distinction. The exposure to liability of the employees of the general (statutory) contractor who did not pay workers’ compensation benefits is grounded on the fact that, unlike the statutory employer itself, “[a]n employee of a statutory employer does not have any potential liability for workers’ compensation payments. Thus there is no quid pro quo, no reason to relieve him of liability for his negligence, and ample reason to hold him accountable” for his negligence or for his negligent breach of contract giving rise to physical injuries. Long v. Marvin M. Black Co., supra at 623. Even if the negligent act in Long v. Marvin M. Black Co. was an “affirmative” act, the rationale upon which that employee was found not immune to liability, was not grounded upon whether the act was “active” or “passive.”
In accordance with the ruling and rationale of Long v. Marvin M. Black Co., we reverse the grant of summary judgment to the individual employees of the statutory employer.
Judgment affirmed in part and reversed in part.