Opinion ID: 1733805
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Israel's Active/Passive Negligence Theory.

Text: Israel contends that his negligence was passive and FMI's active in comparison, thereby placing Israel within one of our recognized theories by which one negligent party can obtain indemnity from another. See Sweeny v. Pease, 294 N.W.2d 819, 821-23 (Iowa 1980); Iowa Power and Light Co. v. Abild Construction Co., 259 Iowa 314, 323-24, 144 N.W.2d 303, 308-09 (1966). The character of the negligence of Israel and FMI, however, was determined in the first lawsuit. Crane alleged in that first suit and the trial court there found that both Israel and FMI were negligent, that the negligence proximately caused Crane's loss, and that the character of negligence of both was essentially the same. Both Israel and FMI were found negligent in failing to detect the error which followed Israel's submission of an inaccurate application to FMI. Israel's negligent conduct in preparing the application incorrectly was as active in character, if not more so, than was the conduct of FMI which simply failed to notice and correct Israel's error. See Sweeny v. Pease, 294 N.W.2d at 823-24, and cases there cited; cf. Fidelity & Casualty Co. v. Minneapolis Brewing, 214 Minn. 436, 438, 8 N.W.2d 471, 472-73 (1943) (active character of city's negligence established in first of two lawsuits, precluding indemnity in second). Those questions of negligence and proximate cause were actually raised and litigated in the first lawsuit; each defendant denied and vigorously attempted to refute each of those allegations. Those issues were material and relevant to the disposition of the first lawsuit; judgment was entered for Crane and against both defendants based on the court's finding that Crane's damages were proximately caused by the defendants' combined negligence in the issuance of an incorrect policy endorsement. Finally, it is clear that the court's findings of negligence on the part of both Israel and FMI and damages proximately caused by that negligence were necessary and essential to the judgment entered in the first lawsuit. Consequently, FMI established each of the above-listed prerequisites for issue preclusion by including in the stipulated record the court's findings of specific negligent conduct on the part of Israel which caused Crane's damages and which certainly was not passive in comparison with the negligence of FMI. Issue preclusion therefore stands as a barrier to Israel's attempt to relitigate the issues of negligence and proximate cause and thereby recover indemnity on an active/passive negligence theory.