Raley v. Carter

• Decision Date: 05 April 1982
• Docket Number: No. 81-C-2340,81-C-2340
• Citation: 412 So.2d 1045
• Parties: James RALEY v. James CARTER, et al.
• Court: Louisiana Supreme Court

Page 1045

412 So.2d 1045

James RALEY v. James CARTER, et al.

No. 81-C-2340.

Supreme Court of Louisiana.

April 5, 1982.

James J. Zito, Baton Rouge, for applicant.

Charles W. Franklin, Terrence C. McRae, Franklin, Moore & Walsh, A. Shelby Easterly, III, Taylor, Porter, Brooks & Phillips, Baton Rouge, for respondents.

BLANCHE, Justice.

James Raley instituted a tort action against the job supervisor, safety officer, plant manager, and project manager of the company to which his employer was under contract for injuries he sustained when he fell through an open hole in a catwalk while working as a millwright. The sole issue before this Court is whether or not the remaining defendant is entitled to a reduction of the judgment by the share of three co-defendants who settled and were released by the plaintiff on the morning of trial.

On the morning of trial the suit was dismissed with prejudice as to the safety officer, plant manager, and project manager; however, plaintiff reserved his rights against the job supervisor, James Carter, and his insurer and the trial proceeded against these defendants only without objection. No evidence was adduced at trial by either party tending to prove or negate liability on the part of the released co-defendants. After trial, the district court ruled that James Carter had been negligent and judgment was rendered against Mr. Carter and his insurer in the amount of $140,878.98. The defendant requested a reduction of the judgment by 75% due to the fact that three of the four co-defendants had been released. The trial court denied this request, but the court of appeal reversed and held that the defendant was entitled to the requested reduction because the plaintiff was bound by his pleading that the released defendants were joint tortfeasors. La.App., 401 So.2d 1006.

It is settled law that when there are four joint tortfeasors and three are released by the plaintiff, the plaintiff can only claim one-fourth of the total award against the remaining tortfeasor. Harvey v. Travelers Insurance Company, 163 So.2d 915 (La.App. 3rd Cir. 1964). Nevertheless, the negligence of parties released from the suit remains an issue in the trial because the remaining tortfeasor is only entitled to a reduction of the award if the parties released are proven to be joint tortfeasors. As stated above, no evidence was introduced at trial to prove that the released defendants were jointly negligent.

In Danks v. Maher, 177 So.2d 412 (La.App. 4th Cir. 1965), cited by the court of appeal, the plaintiff filed a medical malpractice suit against her doctor, the hospital and their respective insurers. After trial was almost completed but before the case was submitted to the jury, the plaintiff settled her claim against the doctor and his insurer and those parties were released and dismissed from the suit; however, she reserved her rights against the remaining defendants. The Fourth Circuit observed that the dismissal of the doctor from the lawsuit so near the end of trial unfairly shifted the burden of proving the released defendant's negligence from the plaintiff to the remaining defendants and held that plaintiff was bound by her pleadings. Accordingly, the court reduced the judgment rendered against the hospital by one-half.

In Wall v. American Employers Insurance Co., 386 So.2d 79 (La.1980), plaintiff brought suit against three defendants for the wrongful death of their daughter. Prior to trial, plaintiffs settled with and released two of the three defendants; however, the negligence of the released parties was litigated at trial. At the conclusion of trial, the district court found that the plaintiffs had judicially confessed the negligence of the released defendants in their pleadings, but further held that the negligence of the two released defendants had been proved by a preponderance of the evidence, and determined that any negligence on the part of the remaining defendant was not a proximate cause of the accident. Therefore, he did not render judgment against the remaining defendant.

The court of appeal reversed the district court's ruling that the negligence of the remaining defendant was not a proximate cause of the accident and held the remaining defendant liable for the plaintiff's damages; however, they reduced the judgment by two-thirds, holding that plaintiffs were bound by their pleading that the two released defendants were negligent. We granted writs to review the correctness of the court of appeal's determination that the two released defendants were joint tortfeasors based upon a holding that the plaintiffs were bound by the pleadings. This Court held that the court of appeal's reliance upon the allegations in plaintiffs' original petition was erroneous. We found that defendant was entitled to a reduction, but our conclusion was based upon the trial court's finding that the negligence of the released tortfeasors had been proven by a preponderance of the evidence at trial.

In the area of law considered in Danks v. Maher, supra, and Wall v. American Employers Insurance, supra, fairness to the defendant was of paramount importance. In order to claim contribution from a released tortfeasor, the...