Opinion ID: 214183
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: The Underlying Personal Injury Action

Text: On September 6, 2001, on Route 1 South in the Township of Woodbridge, New Jersey, a tow truck operated by Gerard M. Taber collided with a stalled vehicle operated by Richard Douglas Cannon, then twenty-one years of age, causing Cannon's stalled vehicle to explode. The accident resulted in permanent injuries to Cannon including horrific burn injuries. Am. Home Assurance Co., 664 F.Supp.2d at 403. At the time of the accident, Taber was responding to a roadside assistance call to change a flat tire in Parlin, New Jersey. The call originated from the 1-800-AAA-HELP line. Id. Taber's employer and the owner of the truck, E & D Auto Repair Towing (E & D), was an AAAMA Preferred Service Provider (Provider). Id. As an AAAMA Provider, E & D was contractually obligated to provide roadside assistance to AAA Members within the region of AAAMA's coverage, and E & D was authorized to display the AAA insignia and emblem. Id. After the accident, Cannon filed an action for damages in Superior Court of the State of New Jersey, County of Middlesex, against Taber, E & D, AAAMA, and AAA, among other defendants. Cannon's Fourth Amended Complaint alleged that E & D and Taber were the agents and/or servants and/or employees and/or acting on behalf of and/or acting for the benefit of and/or acting under the supervision and control of AAA and AAAMA. Id. The Fourth Amended Complaint also alleged that Taber, E & D, AAA, and AAAMA `did act in a negligent and careless manner so as to cause the motor vehicle being operated by defendant [Taber] to strike the automobile of[Cannon].' Id. Cannon further alleged that a mobile data terminal (MDT) [3] was installed in the flat-bed truck being operated by defendant Taber and that the MDT was not reasonably fit, suitable, or safe for its intended purposes and reasonably foreseeable uses and was designed in a defective manner, and exposed the public to an unreasonable risk of injury. The Cannon trial began on April 10, 2007, and at trial, Taber testified that while he was en route to provide roadside assistance, the MDT caused him to become distracted when it beeped, prompting him to check with it to obtain information about the roadside assistance call to which he was en route. Id. He then heard horns honking, turned to look at the flat-bed rear of his truck to determine whether any chains were loose, and then glanced at a woman in a nearby vehicle for approximately 10-15 seconds before turning back to look out his front windshield. At that time he saw Cannon's car stopped in the road. Id. Taber testified that he tried to stop but could not before rear-ending Cannon's car. Id. Before the close of trial, AAAMA and Cannon agreed on May 31, 2007, to settle all claims against AAAMA for $27.25 million, with Federal contributing $26.5 million and AAAMA's excess insurer, Fireman's Fund, contributing $750,000. AHA and NUIC did not make any settlement offers on AAAMA's behalf. The defendants never contested the reasonableness of the settlement of the Cannon action and did not assert any affirmative defenses that the settlement was unreasonable. Following the settlement of the claim against AAAMA, the Cannon action proceeded to trial on various issues. The state trial court instructed the jury that as a matter of law E & D controlled Taber, the agent and employee of E & D. The court also instructed the jury that E & D and Taber were negligent on the date of the accident and that this was not an issue for their consideration. The court then instructed the jury to resolve the direct negligence and agency issues. With respect to agency, the court instructed the jury to consider whether AAAMA was the master of E & D and whether AAA National was the master of AAAMA. The court explained that this issue required the jury to resolve whether AAA National controlled AAAMA's operations: You must determine whether or not either of these entities had a right to control the day-to-day basis of operation of a particular institution. In other words, did [AAAMA] have the right to... control the day-to-day operation of E & D Towing? That's up to you. Did... AAA National have the right and did they exercise a [sic] control over [AAAMA]? App. 971. In its verdict, the jury made the following findings. First, as to agency, the jury found that E & D and Taber were agents of AAAMA and that AAAMA was the agent of AAA. Id. Second, as to direct negligence, while the jury found AAA National negligent, it also found that AAA National's negligence did not proximately cause Cannon's injuries. In contrast, the jury found that AAAMA was both negligent and that AAAMA's negligence proximately caused Cannon's injuries. The jury also found that Cannon was negligent and that his negligence was a proximate cause of the accident. The jury awarded Cannon $12 million to compensate him for his pain, suffering, disability, impairment, and loss of enjoyment of life. Examining the combined negligence the jury, inter alia, found E & D 85% liable, AAAMA 14% liable, AAA National 0% liable, and Cannon 1% liable. Id.