Tim Kono was working for Royal Plumbing, a subcontractor hired by D.R. Horton, when a trench wall collapsed at a Polk City housing development in April 2019. Kono was buried for one to two minutes under an 'SUV-sized mound of dirt' while installing sewer pipes in a roughly ten-foot-deep trench that lacked proper safety protections. The trench used improper 'benching' rather than required shoring or trench boxes, violating OSHA regulations for the unstable soil conditions. Despite knowing the danger, Kono's supervisor ordered him to continue work, telling him to 'Get the f*** down there and get the f*** out before it does f***ing cave.'
The Iowa Supreme Court ruled that D.R. Horton, as general contractor, had no legal duty to protect Kono under Iowa's established common law. As Justice Oxley explained, 'a general contractor ordinarily does not owe a duty of care to the employee of a subcontractor,' and 'the defendant cannot be held liable without it.' The court emphasized that 'responsibility rests with the subcontractor, given its specialized expertise and control over the day-to-day operations of its work.' D.R. Horton was not present at the job site and did not learn of the accident until two months later when Iowa OSHA conducted its investigation.
The court delivered particularly strong language about the practical realities of construction work relationships. Justice Oxley wrote that the no-duty rule takes 'into account the realities of the relationship between employers and their contractors,' noting that 'employers typically hire contractors to perform services beyond the employers' knowledge, expertise, and ability.' The opinion emphasized that 'the subcontractor, not the general contractor, is usually in the best position to reduce risk and prevent injury to its own employees.'
The case reached the Iowa Supreme Court after District Judge Robert B. Hanson denied D.R. Horton's motions for directed verdict and judgment notwithstanding the verdict. A jury had awarded Kono $20.5 million in compensatory and punitive damages, with $12.1 million of the punitive award designated for Iowa's civil reparations trust fund. Kono had previously settled gross negligence claims against three Royal Plumbing employees, including supervisor Russ Hall who directed the unsafe work.
Kono argued that two exceptions to the no-duty rule applied: retained control and peculiar risk. The court systematically rejected both theories. On retained control, Justice Oxley found that D.R. Horton's broad contractual rights to 'direct all work' and 'be awarded all final decisions' were insufficient because 'broad or general contractual rights are insufficient given the practical realities of the parties' relationship.' The court noted that the contract specifically required Royal Plumbing—not D.R. Horton—to 'utilize OSHA compliant trench protection' during the work.
The court also rejected Kono's peculiar risk argument, reaffirming its precedent in Robinson v. Poured Walls of Iowa that residential excavation work does not constitute a peculiar risk as a matter of law. Justice Oxley distinguished between work that is dangerous when performed negligently versus work that is inherently dangerous even when performed properly. 'The peculiar risk inquiry turns on the nature of the work itself, not on the severity of the resulting risks if performed negligently,' the court held, noting that proper safety precautions could have prevented the cave-in.
The decision eliminates a significant damages award and reinforces Iowa's restrictive approach to general contractor liability. Legal practitioners in construction law will note the court's emphasis that only when a general contractor retains control over 'operative detail' or hires work involving truly inherent dangers will liability attach. The ruling also rejected calls to follow Montana's more expansive Beckman decision, which treats all trenching as inherently dangerous.