Opinion ID: 1862141
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Pro Tanto Release

Text: As to the pro tanto release, the Slades first argue that the trial court should not have allowed State Farm to plead or to prove the fact that the Slades had entered into a settlement with the construction defendants because, they say, State Farm and the construction defendants were not joint tortfeasors. [A]s a matter of law, [defendants who are not joint tortfeasors and] whose acts do not combine to cause one single injury cannot claim a set-off ... [as to] any amount received by the plaintiff in settlement with other [defendants who are not joint tortfeasors] based on distinct acts of those defendants. Ex parte Martin, 598 So.2d 1381, 1385 (Ala.1992); see, also, Hall v. Seaboard Air Line R.R., 211 Ala. 602, 604, 100 So. 890, 891 (1924) (`where the [negligent acts] of two or more persons concur in producing a single, indivisible injury, then such persons are jointly and severally liable'). In the present case, there was no single, indivisible injury caused by the construction defendants and State Farm. In fact, there were two injuries flowing from two separate allegedly tortious acts: (1) damage caused by the alleged negligent and/or wanton construction that was done by the construction defendants and (2) damage caused by the alleged bad-faith refusal to pay an insurance claim. Also, the injuries the Slades claim to have suffered were not indivisible. Moreover, the acts of the two groups of defendants did not combine to cause any one injury. State Farm took no part in the construction of the home, and the construction defendants took no part in the refusal to pay an insurance claim. Accordingly, the construction defendants and State Farm were not joint tortfeasors, and the trial court should not have allowed State Farm to claim a set-off of any amount received by the Slades in the settlement with the construction defendants. Thus, State Farm should not have been allowed to plead or to put into evidence the existence and the terms of the Slades' settlement with the construction defendants for the purpose of achieving a set-off as the result of a pro tanto settlement. Whether the evidence was admissible for some other purpose is not before us. The Slades also argue that the trial court erred in not allowing them to admit into evidence a copy of the pro tanto settlement and that the trial court erred in not allowing their counsel to question them regarding the terms of the settlement. They contend that under the doctrine of curative admissibility the evidence was admissible. Thus, they say that they are entitled to a new trial because of these erroneous rulings by the trial court. Because we have already determined that the Slades are entitled to a new trial and because we have already determined that the trial court should not have allowed State Farm to put into evidence the terms of the settlement, for the purpose of securing a set-off as a result of the pro tanto settlement, we need not address this issue.