Opinion ID: 2275449
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: right to indemnity in these cases.

Text: The facts of the cases sub judice fall squarely within the parameters of the common law right to indemnity. If the allegations in Degener v. Hall Contracting Corp. are true, Degener and Tye were the active wrongdoers and Hall Contracting's liability is premised solely upon its failure to prevent them from making the bomb which injured the three officers. If the allegations in Salazar v. Korp II Ltd. Partnership, etc. are true, Salazar was the active wrongdoer and Korp II's liability is premised solely upon its failure to prevent him from sexually assaulting and harassing Townsend. Both cases are factually similar to Crime Fighters Patrol v. Hiles, Ky., 740 S.W.2d 936 (1987) in which a customer of a fast food restaurant sued the restaurant for damages sustained when he was assaulted by another customer. The restaurant filed third-party complaints for indemnity against both its security service provider and the perpetrator of the assault; and the security service filed a cross-claim for indemnity against the assailant. The gravamen of the claim against the restaurant was that it knew of the assailant's violent nature and was negligent in failing to prevent the assault. We held that even if the restaurant and the security service were liable for the customer's damages, they were not in pari delicto with the perpetrator of the assault, thus were entitled to complete indemnity against him. [5] Likewise, even if Hall Contracting is liable for damages incurred by the three injured police officers, Hall was not in pari delicto with Degener and Tye, thus would be entitled to complete indemnity against them; and even if Korp II is liable for damages incurred by Townsend, Korp II was not in pari delicto with Salazar, thus would be entitled to complete indemnity against him.