Opinion ID: 780958
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Effect of Carson Settlement on Judgment Against Microvote and Westchester

Text: 50 The District Court did not abuse its discretion in denying defendants' motion pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 60(b) to off-set the judgment against non-settling defendants Microvote and Westchester by the amount of money the County received from co-defendant Carson as part of a settlement. We come to this conclusion because the non-settling defendants waived any claim to the settlement. Under Pennsylvania law, a non-settling tortfeasor is required to pay his full pro-rata share. Charles v. Giant Eagle Markets, 513 Pa. 474, 522 A.2d 1, 2 (1987). Accordingly, in Rocco v. Johns-Manville Corp., we held that, under the Pennsylvania Joint Tortfeasors Act, settlement by a joint tortfeasor reduces the amount a plaintiff may recover from the non-settling co-defendant to his pro rata share or the amount paid for the release, whichever is greater. See 754 F.2d 110, 111 (3d Cir.1985); 42 Pa. C.S.A. § 8326. However, [u]nder Pennsylvania law, if the released party is not a joint tortfeasor, he is considered a volunteer. In that circumstance, the amount paid for the release is not deducted from the recovery against a nonreleased party. Id. In order to reduce a plaintiff's recovery, the co-defendant's culpability as a joint tortfeasor must be established through adjudication or concession of joint tortfeasor status in the settlement. See id. at 114-15. 51 In this case, as the District Court noted, neither Microvote nor Westchester submitted a jury interrogatory for apportionment of liability. On the contrary, Microvote took violent exception to special jury interrogatories proposed by Carson prior to settling that would have apportioned damages between Carson and Microvote. Further, defendants did not present any evidence at trial that would support a jury finding regarding apportionment. They did not attempt to keep Carson in the case in order to apportion liability, nor did they request substitution of a settlement that delineated Carson's pro-rata share of liability under Griffin v. United States, 500 F.2d 1059 (3d Cir.1974). As we held in Rocco : 52 One would have expected the nonsettling defendants to either have requested substitution of Griffin -type releases or judicial determination of liability. The nonsettling defendants took no action, apparently acquiescing in the settling part[y's] absence from the trial. That failure to act may be considered a waiver of any benefit from the [settling defendant's release] or the amounts paid for [it]. 53 754 F.2d at 115. Since the jury did not apportion liability and the settlement did not mention the non-settling defendants' liability, Microvote and Westchester have waived any claim to the settlement under Giant Eagle Markets and Rocco. 4 54 Even if defendants had not waived an off-set claim, the jury's verdict does not suggest that defendants are entitled to an off-set. The jury found that the County sustained damages in the amount of $1,048,500. This amount is about half of the difference between the value of the DREs as warranted ($3,822,000) and the trade-in value of the DREs ($1,348,500). Since the jury neither heard evidence regarding Carson's liability to the County, nor received instruction from the District Court that they were to determine Carson's liability, nothing in the verdict suggests that the $1,048,500 award represents the full amount of damages that the County suffered from the actions both of the non-settling defendants and of Carson. See Giant Eagle Markets, 522 A.2d at 3 (There is no basis for concluding the jury verdict must serve as a cap on the total recovery that a plaintiff may receive.). 5