I repair equipment at a dry cleaning business. I was working at onelocation on the second floor where the clothes conveyor system goes.There are openings in the second story floor where the conveyer runs. Acontractor doing work at the location a week or two earlier had removedthe guardrails protecting the floor openings to do work in that location. Ifell through the floor opening and fractured my back. The earliercontractor did not reinstall the guardrails before he left. I have been toldthat the other contractor has no insurance and assets -- it was a fly by night operation.. The owner of the dry cleaner is telling my boss that he did notknow that the rails had been removed and not replaced. Do I have a casehere?

A: The answer to this question is virtually identical to the answer to the previous question regarding the restaurant delivery. When you went to the dry cleaners to repair equipment, you held the status of a business invitee. The managers/owners of the drycleaners therefore had a duty to inspect for dangerous conditions and to either correct them or warn you about them. 

Even though the prior contractor may not have insurance or meaningful assets, it is probably advisable to sue both that contactor and the cry cleaning establishment. This is due to issues related to joint and several liability. The actual facts regarding insurance, assets, when and why the guardrail was removed, who knew about it and who should have known about it can really only be determined through formal discovery after a lawsuit is filed.