Montana court hears argument over whether lumber buyer can be liable for loader’s injury

The Montana court heard oral argument in DA25-0409 on whether Pacific Western Lumber Inc. can be held liable for injuries sustained by a contract trucker, Steve Blanchard, while log bundles were loaded at Clark Fork Post.

Appellants’ counsel told the justices that the case turns on two negligence theories: direct negligence, which depends on foreseeability of harm, and vicarious liability based on the inherently dangerous nature of the loading activity. The attorney argued Pac West knew or should have known that Clark Fork’s yard lacked industry-standard precautions—cherry-picker cranes and steel dunnage—and that sending Blanchard into that environment made injury reasonably foreseeable. “That loading is part…that is the inherently dangerous activity. That’s what caused the injury here,” counsel told the court, emphasizing evidence that the…