Source: http://www.thehamiltonfirm.com/en/category/apportionment-of-damages/
Timestamp: 2019-04-20 06:37:14+00:00

Document:
Tucker was a passenger in a pickup truck driven by Brown, who struck a tractor-trailer rig parked by the road. The passenger, Tucker, sued Brown for her resulting injuries, but did not sue the trucking company or the truck driver. Before trial Brown identified the tractor-trailer driver as a nonparty against whom the jury should apportion fault pursuant to the provisions of O.C.G.A. § 51-12-33. The jury returned a verdict of $2 million in damages, but apportioned 40 percent fault to the nonparty tractor-trailer driver and 60 percent to Brown, Brown v. Tucker, 2016 Ga. App. LEXIS 399 (7/5/16).
Why Tucker did not sue the owner or driver of the tractor-trailer is not apparent from the opinion.
Thus, in spite of the procedural unfairness of Georgia’s apportionment statute, which allows a defendant to identify a nonparty alleged to be at fault up to 120 days before trial and often long after the statute of limitations has expired, at least the defendant has to prove negligence on the party of that nonparty by a preponderance of the evidence, and bears the burden of proof on that issue. So, it is not the plaintiff’s responsibility to prove the nonparty was not at fault. Of course, without the nonparty there, the defendant has an easy shot at an empty chair.
Finally, the Court of Appeals also found no error by the trial court in reading that portion of the apportionment statute to the jury that “assessments of percentages of fault of nonparties shall be used only in the determination of the percentage of fault of named parties”, O.C.G.A. § 51-12-33(f)(1). This provides good ammunition for the plaintiff’s lawyer to be able to explain this to the jury, and to request a charge accordingly, so the jury understands how the percentages of fault will be used in determining how much money the plaintiff will receive.
Brown v. Tucker also addressed expert testimony, which will be discussed in Part II.
Does OCGA § 51-12-33 (c) allow the jury to assess a percentage of fault to the non-party employer of a plaintiff who sues a product manufacturer and seller for negligence in failing to warn about a product danger, even though the non-party employer has immunity under OCGA § 34-9-11?
Walker v. Tensor Machinery, LTD, S15Q1222 (11/16/15).
It is not uncommon for an employee to be severely injured by a dangerous or defective machine, giving rise to a products liability action against the manufacturer of the machine. Unfortunately, in Georgia, that manufacturer may be able to reduce its liability by offering evidence that the employer was at fault, even though the employee cannot sue his or her employer for damages, as the employee’s remedy against the employer is limited to workers compensation benefits.
As with the Supreme Court’s opinion in Zaldivar, this most recent decision was not unexpected, but it is certainly disappointing.
Georgia Court of Appeals Holds That Jury Should Have Been Permitted to Apportion Fault to Adjoining Property Owner in Negligent Security Case.
In Double View Ventures v. Polite, 2104 Ga. App. LEXIS 234 (3/26/14) the defendants, the owner of an apartment complex and a property management company, appealed a jury verdict in favor of plaintiff, a resident of the apartment complex. The resident filed a premises liability action against defendants following an attack by unknown assailants on the property of the apartment complex. The attack occurred while the resident was walking along a dirt path leading to a gas station located adjacent to the apartment complex. Bleach was thrown in the resident’s face and he was shot, which caused him severe permanent physical injuries.
The court reversed the judgment, although the defendants never identified the specific entity in control of the Chevron station next door where the fence was located, and had in fact identified three other specific entities alleged to have been at fault in their pretrial notices of nonparty fault pursuant to O.C.G.A. § 51-12-33(d)(1). The defendants pulled a classic bait and switch on the plaintiff. They identified three specific entities in three separate notices, but presented no evidence that any one of them was actually responsible for the property where the fence was located. According to plaintiff’s counsel, Darren Summerville, the trial court excluded the three specific entities named in the notices of nonparty fault from the verdict form, but the defendants argued that the jury should have been permitted to apportion fault to a vague, non-specific entity never named in the pretrial notices, such as “the convenience store” or “Chevron.” The trial court refused, and got reversed by the Court of Appeals.
This is horrible decision, and the case is likely headed for the Georgia Supreme Court. There was a strong dissent by Judge Anne Barnes, who correctly saw the issue as a failure of the defendants to introduce any evidence that would provide a rational basis for a jury to apportion fault against a nonparty.

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