Opinion ID: 1221949
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: bradley's effect on contribution

Text: We are asked whether Anchor which was found liable for 70% of the negligence, can pursue its third-party action against Roberson who was found to be only 30% at fault. The answer is yes. Nothing in Bradley bears on the right of contribution. Bradley moderated the common law bar of contributory negligence so as to permit a plaintiff to recover his damages even though he was found to be partially contributorily negligent. In the present case, Anchor is not pursuing a claim for its damages arising out of the accident as against the third-party defendant Roberson. Its position as a third-party plaintiff rests upon a claim for contribution against a joint tortfeasor under Haynes. Essentially, Anchor seeks to allocate part of the primary negligence for the accident with a joint tortfeasor and therefore its contributory negligence under Bradley is not at issue. We stated in Syllabus Point 4, in part, of Sydenstricker v. Unipunch Products, Inc., et al., W.Va., 288 S.E.2d 511 (1982): The doctrine of contribution has its roots in equitable principles. The right to contribution arises when persons having a common obligation, either in contract or tort, are sued on that obligation and one party is forced to pay more than his pro tanto share of the obligation. Once comparative fault in regard to contribution is recognized, recovery can be had by one joint tortfeasor against another joint tortfeasor inter se regardless of their respective degree of fault so long as the one has paid more than his pro tanto share [23] to the plaintiff. In the present case, once Anchor pays the entire $100,000 award to the plaintiffs, it is entitled to collect on its $30,000 judgment against the third-party defendant, Roberson.