Main Contractor Not Vicariously Liable for Subcontractor's Improper Scaffolding Installation

A plaintiff, injured by the collapse of scaffolding materials delivered to a construction site by a subcontractor, sued the main contractor, alleging the main contractor was vicariously liable under Article 1384 of the Civil Code for the subcontractor's actions. The trial court dismissed the claim, finding that while the scaffolding material itself was defective, the collapse resulted from the subcontractor's improper installation, which constituted an independent fault not attributable to the main contractor under the principle of vicarious liability, as the main contractor had no duty to supervise the technical execution of the subcontractor's work. The high court upheld this decision, reasoning that liability under Article 1384 for the acts of a subordinate requires a link of direction or control, which was absent here because the subcontractor's work involved specific technical skills that the main contractor was entitled to trust, thus breaking the chain of causation for vicarious liability.