State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co. v. Holland

• Decision Date: 08 June 1989
• Docket Number: No. 391PA88,391PA88
• Court: North Carolina Supreme Court
• Parties: STATE FARM MUTUAL AUTOMOBILE INSURANCE COMPANY v. Donna Jean HOLLAND.

Page 100

380 S.E.2d 100

324 N.C. 466

STATE FARM MUTUAL AUTOMOBILE INSURANCE COMPANY v. Donna Jean HOLLAND.

No. 391PA88.

Supreme Court of North Carolina.

June 8, 1989.

On discretionary review of the decision of the Court of Appeals, 90 N.C.App. 730, 370 S.E.2d 70 (1988), reversing and remanding the judgment entered by Albright, J., at the 16 November 1986 Session of Superior Court, Guilford County. Heard in the Supreme Court 13 February 1989.

Frazier, Frazier & Mahler, by James D. McKinney, Greensboro, for plaintiff-appellee.

Smith Helms Mulliss & Moore, by Stephen P. Millikin and Alan W. Duncan, Greensboro, for defendant-appellant.

FRYE, Justice.

The question before the Court is whether the Court of Appeals correctly reversed the trial court's entry of summary judgment in favor of defendant. In order to answer this question, we must determine whether a Carver issue, decided adversely to the mother of a deceased child in a wrongful death action, can serve as the basis for collateral estoppel so as to conclusively establish the liability of that parent for the purposes of contribution. For the reasons stated hereafter, we answer both questions in the negative.

The facts in this case are as follows: on 14 December 1983, Donna Jean Holland (hereinafter Holland) and Jo Ann Cowan Wall (hereinafter Wall) were operating their vehicles in High Point, North Carolina, and collided at an intersection. Alicia Holland, the three-month-old daughter of Holland, was a passenger in the automobile Holland operated. The child suffered serious injuries from the accident and died shortly thereafter. Holland was also injured in the accident. On 6 June 1984, Holland, on her own behalf, and her husband, as administrator of the estate of Alicia Holland, filed suit against Wall alleging that Wall negligently caused the accident which injured Holland and resulted in the death of Alicia Holland. Wall answered alleging contributory negligence as to Holland's claim. As a defense to the wrongful death claim brought by the administrator, Wall alleged that the child's death was caused solely by Holland's negligent operation of the automobile. As a further defense to the wrongful death claim, Wall alleged that Holland was negligent in failing to properly use a child restraint system as required by N.C.G.S. § 20-137.1, that Holland's negligence was imputable to her husband, and since they were the sole beneficiaries of the wrongful death claim, that claim should be dismissed so as to prevent Holland and her husband from benefiting from their own wrong. Holland was not made a named defendant or third party defendant to the action.

The case was tried in August 1985 and the following issues were presented to, and answered by, the jury:

1. Was the Plaintiff, Donna Jean Holland, injured by the negligence of the Defendant, Jo Ann Cowan Wall?

ANSWER: Yes

2. Did the Plaintiff, Donna Jean Holland, by her own negligence contribute to her injury?

ANSWER: No

3. What amount, if any, is the Plaintiff, Donna Jean Holland, entitled to recover for personal injuries?

ANSWER: $4,589.02

4. Was the death of Alicia Jean Holland proximately caused by the negligence of the Defendant, Jo Ann Cowan Wall?

ANSWER: Yes

5. Was the death of Alicia Jean Holland proximately caused by the negligence of the Plaintiff, Donna Jean Holland?

ANSWER: Yes

6. What amount of damages is Alan Gregg Holland, Sr. Administrator of the estate of Alicia Jean Holland entitled to recover by reason of the death of Alicia Jean Holland?

ANSWER: $100,000.00.

On 19 August 1985, Judge James M. Long entered judgment against defendant Wall in favor of plaintiff Donna Jean Holland in the amount of $4,589.02 and against defendant Wall in favor of plaintiff-administrator in the amount of $100,000.00. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company (hereinafter State Farm), as the insurer of Wall, paid the judgment in favor of Holland. The administrator of the estate accepted $50,000 from State Farm in settlement of the $100,000 judgment against Wall and marked the judgment satisfied in full.

In the instant case, State Farm sued Holland for contribution of one-half of the $50,000 settlement pursuant to N.C.G.S. § 1B-1, et seq. Holland's motion for summary judgment was granted by Judge Douglas Albright. State Farm appealed to the Court of Appeals. The Court of Appeals held that Holland was collaterally estopped to deny her negligence in causing her daughter's death and that State Farm was entitled to contribution from Holland because Wall and Holland were joint tortfeasors. The Court of Appeals reversed the grant of summary judgment for Holland and remanded the case to the trial court for entry of summary judgment for State Farm. State Farm Mutual Auto. Ins. Co. v. Holland, 90 N.C.App. 730, 370 S.E.2d 70 (1988). We now reverse.

Plaintiff State Farm seeks contribution pursuant to N.C.G.S. § 1B-1, et seq. from defendant Holland for one half of the $50,000 paid by State Farm to the estate of Alicia Holland. N.C.G.S. § 1B-1 provides in pertinent part:

(a) [W]here two or more persons become jointly or severally liable in tort for the same injury to person or property or for the same wrongful death, there is a right of contribution among them even though the judgment has not been recovered against all or any of them.

(b) The right of contribution exists only in favor of a tort-feasor who has paid more than his pro rata share of the common liability, and his total recovery is limited to the amount paid by him in excess of his pro rata share. No tort-feasor is compelled to make contribution beyond his own pro rata share of the entire liability.

N.C.G.S. § 1B-1(a) and (b) (1983 & Cum.Supp.1988). The statute expressly grants a right of contribution to a joint tortfeasor who has paid more than his pro rata share of common liability to the injured party.

However, the right to contribution does not exist unless two or more parties are joint tortfeasors. Pearsall v. Duke Power Co., 258 N.C. 639, 129 S.E.2d 217 (1963); Clemmons v. King, 265 N.C. 199, 143 S.E.2d 83 (1965). Two or more parties are joint tortfeasors when their negligent or wrongful acts are united in time or circumstance such that the two acts constitute one transaction or when two separate acts concur in point of time and place to cause a single injury. Clemmons v. King, 265 N.C. at 202, 143 S.E.2d at 86. The burden is on the tortfeasor seeking contribution to show that the right exists, Pascal v. Burke Transit Co., 229 N.C. 435, 50 S.E.2d 534 (1948); Stansel v. McIntyre, 237 N.C. 148, 74 S.E.2d 345 (1953), and to allege facts which show liability to the injured party as well as a right to contribution. Clemmons v. King, 265 N.C. at 202, 143 S.E.2d at 86.

The personal representative of a person killed by the negligence of two joint tortfeasors may, at his election, sue one or both of the tortfeasors. If he sues both and the jury finds them to be joint tortfeasors, the resulting judgment is joint and several and the party paying more than his pro rata share of the judgment is entitled to contribution from the other. Where the plaintiff elects to sue only one of the joint tortfeasors, the original defendant may have others joined as additional or third party defendants. See Pascal v. Burke Transit Co., 229 N.C. 435, 50 S.E.2d 534, Phillips v. Mining Co., 244 N.C. 17, 92 S.E.2d 429 (1956), N.C.G.S. § 1B-3(d)(3) (1983 & Cum.Supp.1988).

If the jury determines that both defendants are liable as joint tortfeasors to the plaintiff in the action, either defendant who satisfies the judgment by paying more than his pro rata share may invoke the right of contribution against the other defendant. Also, where one of the joint tortfeasors is not made a party to the original action, either by the plaintiff or the original defendant, the original defendant may nevertheless, by separate action, seek contribution from the other tortfeasor. In such a case he must establish, not only that a judgment has been entered against him, but that the other party is in fact a joint tortfeasor, that is, that the other party is liable jointly with the original defendant to the plaintiff for the wrongful death damages. N.C.G.S. §§ 1B-1(a) and 1B-3(c) (1983 & Cum.Supp.1988).

The doctrine of collateral estoppel is not available to the plaintiff, State Farm, in the instant case to show Holland's joint and several liability to the estate of Alicia Holland. Since Holland was not a party to the wrongful death claim and was not made a third party defendant for the purpose of contribution, neither her liability to the estate of Alicia Holland nor her liability to Wall as a joint tortfeasor was established by the judgment in the original action.

The Court of Appeals relied on the opinion in Carver v. Carver, 310 N.C. 669, 314 S.E.2d 739 (1984), in support of its holding that defendant Holland is collaterally estopped from denying that her negligence caused her daughter's death. Carver involved a wrongful death action brought by the estate of a child who was killed in an automobile accident caused by the negligence of the child's mother. The trial court entered summary judgment in favor of the defendant mother of the child. The Court of Appeals reversed the trial court's entry of summary judgment. In an opinion written by Justice Exum (now Chief Justice), this Court held that the Court of Appeals was correct in reversing the judgment of the trial court. The Court further held that losses to the negligent mother could not be considered in assessing damages for the wrongful death of the child because the recovery obtained resulted from the negligence of the mother.

In the instant case, the Court of Appeals concluded that the jury finding, that Holland's negligence proximately caused the death of the child, was material and relevant to the disposition of Holland v. Wall and necessary and essential to the resulting judgment. State Farm v. Holland, 90 N.C.App. 730, 733, 370...