Opinion ID: 471638
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The third party complaint

Text: 15 Plaintiff maintains that it was not necessary for him to prove negligence, unseaworthiness, or causation because the Barwicks, in their third party claims against Biloxi Machine Works and Roger Nichols, admitted facts that would constitute all three of these elements. Biloxi manufactured the winch in which plaintiff's leg became entangled. The third party complaint against Biloxi alleges that the winch was in a defective and unreasonably dangerous condition and that the defective condition of the winch may have been a proximate cause of plaintiff's injuries. The third party complaint against Roger Nichols alleges that as the owner pro hac vice of the TIFFANY he breached his duties to plaintiff to provide him with a seaworthy place to work and to adequately train and supervise him and to warn him of any dangers present on the TIFFANY. 16 Plaintiff's reliance upon Best Canvas Products & Supplies, Inc. v. Ploof Truck Lines, Inc., 713 F.2d 618 (11th Cir.1983) is misplaced. In Ploof the court held that the defendant was bound by its third party complaint/counterclaim as a judicial admission that the cause of action arose in Georgia. Ploof is an example of the general rule that a party is bound by the admissions in his pleadings. 17 An exception has been carved out of this general rule to permit the exercise of the liberal pleading and joinder provisions of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure lest inconsistent pleadings under Rule 8(e)(2) be used as admissions negating each other and lest the allegations in third party complaints and cross-claims seeking recovery over in the event of liability in the principal action be used as admissions establishing liability. Continental Insurance Co. of New York v. Sherman, 439 F.2d 1294, 1298 (5th Cir.1971). In Sherman the court held that the general rule binding a party by the admissions in his pleadings did not apply when a party took inconsistent positions ... in pleadings in a complicated joinder situation, involving ... the contingent liability of third parties. Id. 18 This case presents a fact pattern similar to that in Sherman. The Barwicks have taken inconsistent positions in their pleadings in order to lay a basis for establishing the contingent liability of Biloxi and Roger Nichols. 19 The entry of a default judgment on the third party complaint against Biloxi should make no difference in the result of this case. To apply the principles of res judicata or issue preclusion to inconsistent positions taken in pleadings in a joinder situation involving the contingent liability of third parties merely because a final judgment has been entered on those pleadings would contravene the language and the policies set forth in Sherman. 20 The judgment of the district court dismissing plaintiff's claims for negligence, unseaworthiness, and products liability must be affirmed.