Liability for Independent Contractor’s Torts. Dean Brothers Corp. owns and operates a steel drum manufacturing plant.

Lowell Wyden, the plant superintendent, hired Best Security Patrol, Inc. (BSP), a security company, to guard Dean property and “deter thieves and vandals.” Some BSP security guards, as Wyden knew, carried fi rearms. Pete Sidell, a BSP security guard, was not certifi ed as an armed guard but nevertheless took his gun, in a briefcase, to work. While working at the Dean plant on October 31, 2010, Sidell fi red his gun at Tyrone Gaines, in the belief that Gaines was an intruder. The bullet struck and killed Gaines. Gaines’s mother fi led a lawsuit claiming that her son’s death was the result of BSP’s negligence, for which Dean was responsible. What is the plaintiff’s best argument that Dean is responsible for BSP’s actions? What is Dean’s best defense? Explain.