Case Title: Hopper v. Kelz

Citation: 166 Vt. 616, 694 A.2d 415

Docket Number: 

State: vermont

Court: Vermont Supreme Court

Date: 1997-04-03T00:00:00Z

Document:
Hopper v. Kelz  (96-518); 166 Vt. 616; 694 A.2d 415

[Filed 3-Apr-1997]

                                 ENTRY ORDER

                       SUPREME COURT DOCKET NO. 96-518

                              MARCH TERM, 1997

Wayne and Judy Hopper           }     APPEALED FROM:
                                }
     v.                         }
                                }
Richard and Kathleen Kelz       }     Bennington Superior Court
                                }
     v.                         }
                                }
Scott Brown and H. Greenberg    }     DOCKET NO. S0289-95 BcC
    & Sons                      }

       In the above-entitled cause, the Clerk will enter:

       Third-party plaintiffs Richard and Kathleen Kelz appeal the dismissal
  of their claim against third-party defendants H. Greenberg & Sons and Scott
  Brown, and an order granting third-party defendants' motion for judgment on
  the pleadings pursuant to V.R.C.P. 12(c).  We affirm.

       On a V.R.C.P. 12(c) motion, the issue is whether the movant is
  entitled to judgment as a matter of law on the basis of the pleadings.  For
  purposes of a Rule 12(c) motion, all well pleaded factual allegations in
  the nonmovant's pleadings and all reasonable inferences that can be drawn
  from the pleadings are assumed to be true and any contravening assertions
  in the movant's pleadings are taken to be false.  Thayer v. Herdt, 155 Vt.
  448, 456, 586 A.2d 1122, 1126 (1990).

       The pleadings indicate that on August 7, 1993, Wayne Hopper suffered
  injuries while he and fellow employee Scott Brown were attempting to remove
  an old refrigerator from the Kelzes' basement.  The Kelzes had purchased a
  new refrigerator from Hopper's employer, H. Greenberg & Sons, which as part
  of the sales contract had agreed to remove an old refrigerator from the
  Kelzes' basement.  As a result of his injuries, Hopper received workers'
  compensation from H. Greenberg & Sons.  In addition, Hopper brought a tort
  action against the Kelzes, alleging that he was injured because the Kelzes
  directed that he use a cellar stairway to remove the refrigerator and that
  the stairway was unsafe for that task.  On January 18, 1996, the Kelzes
  filed a third-party complaint against H. Greenberg & Sons and Scott Brown,
  seeking indemnification of any judgment Hopper might receive against the
  Kelzes in the tort action.

       A party may seek indemnity from a joint tortfeasor "if (a) there is an
  express agreement or undertaking by one to indemnify the other, or (b) the
  circumstances are such that the law will imply such an undertaking." 
  Bardwell Motor Inn, Inc. v. Accavallo, 135 Vt. 571, 572,