Virginia Elec. and Power Co. v. Wilson
| Decision Date | 24 April 1981 |
| Docket Number | No. 790545,790545 |
| Citation | 221 Va. 979,277 S.E.2d 149 |
| Parties | VIRGINIA ELECTRIC AND POWER COMPANY v. K. F. WILSON, Individually and t/a, etc. Record |
| Court | Virginia Supreme Court |
Gregory N. Stillman, Richmond (Lewis T. Booker, L. Neal Ellis, Jr., Hunton & Williams, Richmond, on briefs), for appellant.
Andrew C. Mitchell, Jr., Norfolk (James A. Howard, Breeden, Howard & MacMillan, Norfolk, on brief), for appellee.
Before CARRICO, C. J., and HARRISON, COCHRAN, POFF, COMPTON, THOMPSON and STEPHENSON, JJ.
Jesse Daye, Jr., and James A. Collins filed separate motions for judgment against the City of Newport News, Virginia Electric and Power Company (Vepco), and K. F. Wilson, individually and trading as K. F. Wilson, Contractor, seeking damages for personal injuries sustained from a gas main explosion allegedly caused by the concurring negligence of the three defendants.
Wilson subsequently filed a special plea claiming that Daye and Collins had each been compensated as employees under the Virginia Workmen's Compensation Act, and therefore the actions should be dismissed as to him. The trial court sustained the special plea and dismissed Wilson as a party defendant. Thereafter, Vepco, by leave of court and pursuant to Rule 3:10, filed a third-party motion for judgment against Wilson alleging liability for contribution or indemnity for a portion of whatever Vepco might be obligated to pay. Vepco expressly denied that it was guilty of any negligence but alleged that, even if it were, such negligence would only be passive and that, accordingly, Wilson's active negligence was the proximate cause of the injuries sustained by Daye and Collins. Wilson responded with a second special plea claiming that no cause of action for contribution or indemnity existed against him in favor of Vepco. This plea was sustained by the trial court, and Wilson was dismissed as a third-party defendant.
To this judgment we granted an appeal to determine if Vepco, under the facts and circumstances of this case, has a right of contribution or indemnity against Wilson. We hold that it does not.
In Norfolk Southern Railroad v. Gretakis, 162 Va. 597, 174 S.E. 841 (1934), the infant son of Gretakis was injured in a motor vehicle accident allegedly due to the concurring negligence of the railroad and Gretakis. An action was filed only against the railroad, and, after judgment was rendered in favor of the infant, the railroad sought contribution from Gretakis. In denying the railroad the right of contribution from Gretakis, the court stated:
Section 5779, Code Va.1919 (now Code § 8.01-34) gives a right of contribution only where the person injured has a right of action against two persons for the same indivisible injury. Though the concurring negligence of two persons may have resulted in an indivisible injury to a third, if the third person has a cause of action against only one of them, that one cannot enforce contribution from the other. The statute allowing contribution does not create any greater liability than existed before its enactment.
162 Va. at 600, 174 S.E. at 842. Because the infant was an unemancipated minor child, no cause of action existed against the father, and therefore the railroad had no right of contribution.
Vepco argues that the value of Gretakis as precedent has been greatly diminished since our decision in Smith v. Kauffman, 212...
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EI DuPont de Nemours and Co. v. KOLON INDUSTRIES
...v. Al-Nahyan, 175 F.R.D. 411, 413-14 (D.D.C.1997) (noting that "active negligence" is "akin to an intentional tort"); Vepco v. Wilson, 221 Va. 979, 277 S.E.2d 149 (1981) (The principles with respect to contribution are "equally applicable to indemnity," the only distinguishing feature being......
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Slater v. Skyhawk Transportation, Inc., Civil Action No. 97-1853 (D. N.J. 12/10/1999), Civil Action No. 97-1853.
...Co., 170 F.Supp. 824 (E.D. Va. 1959)); Burnette, 389 F.Supp. at 1321 (also citing Jennings); Virginia Electric & Power Co. v. K.F. Wilson, 221 Va. 979, 980-82, 277 S.E.2d 149, 149-50 (1981). Employee suits against employers for work-related injuries are barred by Virginia's workers' compens......
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Slater v. Skyhawk Transp., Inc.
...Power Co., 170 F.Supp. 824 (E.D.Va.1959)); Burnette, 389 F.Supp. at 1321 (also citing Jennings); Virginia Electric & Power Co. v. K.F. Wilson, 221 Va. 979, 980-82, 277 S.E.2d 149, 149-50 (1981). Employee suits against employers for work-related injuries are barred by Virginia's workers' com......
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Jane Doe v. Va. Wesleyan Coll. Va. Wesleyan Coll.
...he is not a signatory to it and thus [he is] not in any way bound by it." (Br. in Supp. Of Special Plea in Bar 2 (citing VEPCO v. Wilson, 221 Va. 979 (1981))). Roe points out that although "the statute of limitations for indemnity or contribution does not accrue until the one seeking indemn......