Frederickson v. Alton M. Johnson Co.

• Decision Date: 20 March 1987
• Docket Number: Nos. C1-85-2102,C3-85-2117,s. C1-85-2102
• Citation: 402 N.W.2d 794
• Parties: Gary FREDERICKSON, Petitioner, Appellant, v. ALTON M. JOHNSON CO., Respondent, Pringle Electrical Manufacturing Co., Defendant, Pennsylvania Corp., et al., Defendants, Michaud, Cooley, Hallberg, Erickson & Associates, Inc., Petitioner, Appellant. and MICHAUD, COOLEY, HALLBERG, ERICKSON & ASSOCIATES, INC., Third Party Plaintiff, Petitioner, Appellant, v. HOFFMAN ELECTRIC CO., Third Party Defendant, Respondent, Continental Insurance Co., Intervenor, Respondent.
• Court: Minnesota Supreme Court

Page 794

402 N.W.2d 794

Gary FREDERICKSON, Petitioner, Appellant, v. ALTON M. JOHNSON CO., Respondent, Pringle Electrical Manufacturing Co., Defendant, Pennsylvania Corp., et al., Defendants,

Michaud, Cooley, Hallberg, Erickson & Associates, Inc.,

Petitioner, Appellant.

and

MICHAUD, COOLEY, HALLBERG, ERICKSON & ASSOCIATES, INC., Third Party Plaintiff, Petitioner, Appellant, v. HOFFMAN ELECTRIC CO., Third Party Defendant, Respondent, Continental Insurance Co., Intervenor, Respondent.

Nos. C1-85-2102, C3-85-2117.

Supreme Court of Minnesota.

March 20, 1987.

Rehearing Denied April 15, 1987.

Syllabus by the Court

1. The nonsettling defendant's crossclaims are barred by Minn.Stat. Sec. 541.051, subd. 1 (1984), because they arose out of an improvement to real property and were brought more than two years after the discovery of the defective and unsafe condition.

2. The trial court properly reduced the verdict by the settling defendant's fault because the plaintiff released (Pierringer ) his cause of action to that extent.

3. The fault attributable to the nonsettling defendant whose share is uncollectible should be reallocated to the other nonsettling defendant, the settling defendant, and the plaintiff, pursuant to Minn.Stat. Sec. 604.02, subd. 2 (1984).

4. On these facts, there is no entitlement to contractual indemnification.

Howard P. Helgen, Douglas J. Christensen, Paul D. Tierney, Minneapolis, Thomas J. Davern, Golden Valley, for Gary Frederickson.

Thomas F. Nelson, Minneapolis, for Michaud, Cooley, et al.

John H. Guthmann, St. Paul, for Hoffman Elec. Co.

Herbert Davis, Minneapolis for Alton M. Johnson. Jon L. Levy Sr., Minnetonka, for Continental Ins. Co.

Considered and decided by the court en banc without oral argument.

SCOTT, Justice.

These appeals arise out of a personal injury action. The principal issues are whether a jury verdict should be reduced by the percentage of fault attributable to a defendant settling by a Pierringer agreement when any contribution claims by the nonsettling defendants would be barred by the statute of limitations, and whether the uncollectible portion of the judgment should be reallocated pursuant to Minn.Stat. Sec. 604.02 (1984). We hold that the jury verdict was properly reduced and that the uncollectible portion should be reallocated. Therefore, we affirm in part and reverse in part.

On November 20, 1979, Gary Frederickson ("Frederickson") was injured by an electrical explosion at Rosedale Shopping Center. Frederickson, an electrician employed by Hoffman Electric Co. ("Hoffman"), was working on an electrical switchboard manufactured by the Alton M. Johnson Company ("Johnson") when the explosion occurred. Frederickson commenced an action on June 12, 1980, against Michaud, Cooley, Hallberg, Erickson & Associates, Inc. ("Michaud-Cooley"), the project's electrical engineers, alleging negligent design of the shopping center's electrical system, and against other defendants, alleging negligence and products liability. Michaud-Cooley then brought a third-party action against Hoffman for contractual indemnification.

On October 22, 1982, Frederickson amended his complaint to add an earlier electrical contractor, Hunt Electric Co. ("Hunt"), which had installed the switchboard and, on February 22, 1983, Michaud-Cooley crossclaimed against Hunt, seeking contribution and contractual indemnification. Prior to trial, Frederickson and Hunt entered into a Pierringer agreement, and Hunt was dismissed from the case. Frederickson received $20,000 in return for releasing Hunt. Their agreement stated in part:

[B]y this covenant Gary N. Frederickson settles and satisfies that percentage of Gary N. Frederickson's total claim for damages against all parties arising out of the accident of November 20, 1979, which shall hereafter * * * be determined to be the percentage of causal fault * * * for which Hunt Electric Corporation is found to be liable.

Before submitting the case to the jury, the trial court granted Hoffman's motion for a directed verdict against Michaud-Cooley on its third-party indemnification claim. The jury then found that Frederickson had sustained damages of $800,000 and allocated 40% of the fault to Johnson; 40% to Hunt; 12% to Michaud-Cooley; and 8% to Frederickson.

The district court reduced the verdict by the 40% fault attributed to Hunt and the 8% fault attributed to Frederickson, and ordered that judgment in the amount of $416,000 be entered jointly and severally against Michaud-Cooley and Johnson. The court ordered that $320,000 of that judgment against Michaud-Cooley be stayed until a court determination of collectibility from Johnson was made.

The trial court determined that Johnson's portion of the verdict was "uncollectible," and granted Michaud-Cooley's motion that Johnson's uncollectible share not be reallocated to it pursuant to Minn.Stat. Sec. 604.02. Michaud-Cooley also moved for indemnification from Hoffman and for a new trial, but these motions were denied. Frederickson also moved to vacate the pretrial ruling that Minn.Stat. Sec. 541.051 did not bar claims against Hunt, to amend the judgment, and for a new trial, but these motions also were denied.

Frederickson, Michaud-Cooley, and Johnson all appealed, and their appeals were consolidated. Johnson later voluntarily dismissed its appeal. The court of appeals affirmed the trial court. Frederickson v. Alton M. Johnson Co., 390 N.W.2d 786 (Minn.Ct.App.1986).

The following issues are presented:

(1) Does the two-year statute of limitations in Minn.Stat. Sec. 541.051 bar Michaud-Cooley's contribution and indemnification claims against Hunt?

(2) Is it proper to reduce the jury verdict by the 40% fault attributable to Hunt?

(3) Under Minn.Stat. Sec. 604.02, is Michaud-Cooley liable for the uncollectible portion of the judgment?

(4) Is Michaud-Cooley entitled to contractual indemnification from Hoffman?

1. Michaud-Cooley's contribution and indemnification claims against Hunt are barred by Minn.Stat. Sec. 541.051 (1984). The court of appeals held that the two-year statute of limitations of Minn.Stat. Sec. 541.051, subd. 1, barred Michaud-Cooley's crossclaims for contribution and indemnification against Hunt. Frederickson v. Alton M. Johnson Co., 390 N.W.2d 786, 791 (Minn.Ct.App.1986). We agree that the claims against Hunt are barred by Minn.Stat. Sec. 541.051, subd. 1, although our interpretation of the statute differs from that of the court of appeals. This court held in Bulau v. Hector Plumbing & Heating, 402 N.W.2d 528 (Minn.1987), that the statute of limitations for contribution actions runs from the discovery of the defective and unsafe condition. The same rationale applies to the indemnity claim because the statute applies to "any action for contribution or indemnity " arising out of the defective and unsafe condition of an improvement to real property. See Minn.Stat. Sec. 541.051, subd. 1 (emphasis added).

2. Reduction of the jury verdict by the 40% of fault attributable to Hunt is proper. Although Michaud-Cooley's crossclaim against Hunt is barred by the statute of limitations, Minn.Stat. Sec. 541.051, the reduction of the jury verdict by the 40% of fault attributable to Hunt is proper. A Pierringer agreement does more than provide for indemnity or contribution; it also releases the settling defendant and a part of plaintiff's cause of action, and reserves the balance of the plaintiff's cause of action against the nonsettling defendants. See Frey v. Snelgrove, 269 N.W.2d 918, 920 n. 1 (Minn.1978); Pierringer v. Hoger, 21 Wis.2d 182, 184-85, 124 N.W.2d 106, 108 (1963); Simonett, Release of Joint Tortfeasors: Use of the Pierringer Release in Minnesota, 3 Wm. Mitchell L.Rev. 1, 8 (1977). Justice Simonett has pointed out that the indemnification provisions are " 'second-line protection' for the releasees in the event that the provisions discharging the releasees and their share of the cause of action were found later to be ineffective." Id. at 20 (footnote omitted); see Pierringer, 21 Wis.2d at 185, 124 N.W.2d at 108.

The release portion of the agreement between Frederickson and Hunt provided that:

[B]y this covenant Gary N. Frederickson settles and satisfies that percentage of Gary N. Frederickson's total claim for damages against all parties arising out of the accident of November 20, 1979, which shall hereafter by further trial or other disposition of this or any other action be determined to be the percentage of causal fault or causal responsibility whether for negligence, or any other liability for which Hunt Electric Corporation is found to be liable.

The court of appeals found that this satisfaction of a portion of the cause of action made the 40% reduction proper. See Frederickson, 390 N.W.2d at 791. We agree. This follows from this court's decision in Frey v. Snelgrove, 269 N.W.2d 918 (Minn.1978), in which we noted that when there is a Pierringer agreement, " 'plaintiff is limited in recovery to the unsatisfied percentage of the damages--the percentage attributable to the nonsettling tort-feasor.' " Id. at 922 (quoting Peiffer v. Allstate Ins. Co., 51 Wis.2d 329, 335, 187 N.W.2d 182, 185 (1971)).

3. Johnson's uncollectible portion of the judgment should be reallocated to Michaud-Cooley, Hunt, and Frederickson pursuant to Minn.Stat. Sec. 604.02, subd. 2 (1984). This court held in Hosley v. Armstrong Cork Co., 383 N.W.2d 289, 292 (Minn.1986), that a Pierringer agreement "does not waive joint liability between all defendants." Id. Section 604.02, subd. 1, sets out the general rule: "When two or more persons are jointly liable, contributions to awards shall be in proportion to the percentage of fault attributable to each, except that each is...