ppalachian Power Co. (APCO) owns the Philip Sporn power plant (Sporn), a coal-fired power plant that generates electricity by burning coal to create steam and then passing the steam through a turbine. The power plant’s precipitators remove granular ash particles (“fly ash”) from the gases produced by burning coal. Precipitators generate significant heat, which can cause corrosion to its exterior steel siding and result in fly ash leakage. Industrial Contractors Inc. (ICI) was hired by APCO to perform general maintenance at Sporn. This included welding metal patches to the exterior of the precipitators to prevent fly ash leakage. Roger Hoschar was a boilermaker employed by ICI from March 2006 to March 2007. During that period, he worked exclusively at Sporn. One of his frequent assignments consisted of hanging from a suspended platform and welding steel patches over corroded portions of the ducts leading into and out of Sporn’s Unit 5 precipitator. Before welding any steel patches, Hoschar and other workers had to remove debris that had built up in the steel channels. Because Unit 5 is an outdoor structure, pigeons sometimes perched on its steel channels and left their droppings behind. Therefore, the debris usually consisted of approximately three- to four-inch accumulations of bird manure and two-inch accumulations of fly ash. Hoschar removed the debris from the steel channels by hand, with a wire brush, or by using compressed air. When removing debris and while welding the steel patches, Hoschar wore a respirator over his face. In March 2007, Hoschar’s employment with ICI ended. A 2009 chest X-ray revealed the presence of a mass on his right lung. He was diagnosed with histoplasmosis, an infectious disease caused by inhaling the spores of a naturally occurring soil-based fungus called histoplasma capsulatum. The histoplasma capsulatum fungus is endemic in the Ohio Valley region, where Sporn is located, because it grows best in soils with high nitrogen content. Once an individual inhales the fungus, it colonizes the lungs. However, the vast majority of people infected by histoplasmosis do not experience any symptoms of infection or suffer any ill effects. While Hoschar was working at Sporn, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration website maintained a page titled “Respiratory Protection: Hazard Recognition.” One of the reference documents found on that page was a publication by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health titled “Histoplasmosis: Protecting Workers at Risk.” This publication explained that the Histoplasma capsulatum fungus “seems to grow best in soils having a high nitrogen content, especially those enriched with bird manure or bat droppings.” It further noted that the fungus “can be carried on the wings, feet, and beaks of birds and infect soil under roosting sites or manure accumulations inside or outside buildings.” 

Hoschar and his wife sued APCO for negligence. They alleged that Hoschar contracted histoplasmosis while working at Sporn as a result of inhaling contaminated dust when he swept out the mixtures of bird manure and fly ash that had accumulated in Unit 5’s steel channels. They also alleged APCO did not provide any written or verbal warnings concerning the presence of aged bird manure around Unit 5 or of the health risks associated with accumulations of bird manure, such as histoplasmosis. The court granted APCO’s motion for summary judgment, reasoning that under the circumstances, APCO did not owe Hoschar a duty of reasonable care. Was the court correct in that ruling?