Court Opinion

ID: 9694621
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-25 17:48:58.573243+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:20:04.039490
License: Public Domain

ZAPPALA, Justice,
concurring and dissenting.
While I join in the majority’s disposition of the issues set forth in Parts I and III of the opinion, I dissent from the majority’s holding that the Superior Court erred in affirming the trial court’s determination that Avco had a right to seek contribution from Hughes.
Avco and the plaintiffs executed a settlement agreement entitled, “Contingent Joint Tortfeasor Release and Indemnity Agreement”. The release and indemnity agreement provided, in relevant part:
*586... It is further understood and agreed and it is the express intent of the parties to this agreement that this release shall not in any way affect the rights of Avco ... to pursue claims for contribution and/or indemnity arising out of the same accident against Summa Corporation and/or Executive Helicopters, Inc. of Atlanta, Georgia.
IT IS FURTHER UNDERSTOOD AND AGREED, however, that if it should be determined that any person, firm or corporation not being released by the terms of this release is jointly or severally liable to the claimants with any party herein released, in tort or otherwise, the claim against and damages recoverable from such other person, firm or corporation shall be reduced by the greater of the amounts determined as follows:
a. The amount of the consideration paid for this release; or
b. The amount determined by the sum of the pro-rata share of legal responsibility or legal liability for which the parties herein released are found to be liable as a consequence of the aforesaid accident of September 1, 1978.
The settlement figure of $922,355.00 in the Walton action exceeded the jury award of damages in the amount of $891,203.00 which was entered against both Avco and Hughes.
Consistent with the specific terms of the parties’ release agreement, the trial court granted Avco’s post-trial motion seeking contribution from Hughes and awarded Avco one-half of the jury verdict entered in favor of the Walton plaintiffs. On appeal to the Superior Court, the Walton plaintiffs complained that Avco was not entitled to receive any contribution from Hughes based upon this Court’s decision in Charles v. Giant Eagle Markets, 513 Pa. 474, 522 A.2d 1 (1987).
In Charles, the issue was whether a non-settling tortfeasor is relieved of responsibility for payment of his proportionate share of damages to the extent that the consideration paid by a settling tortfeasor for a release from the plaintiff exceeds the settling tortfeasor’s proportionate *587share of damages as determined by the jury under the Comparative Negligence Act, 42 Pa.C.S. § 7102, and the Uniform Contribution Among Tortfeasors Act (“UCATA”), 42 Pa.C.S. § 8321 et seq. The majority held that the non-settling tortfeasor is required to pay his full pro rata share.
In Charles, the plaintiff had brought an action against Giant Eagle Markets, Inc. after he fell near an entrance to one of its stores. Giant Eagle joined Stanley Magic Door, Inc. as an additional defendant. Prior to trial, the plaintiff settled his claim against Giant Eagle for $22,500.00. A release executed by the plaintiff provided that any recovery obtained against a corporation other than Giant Eagle shall be reduced to the extent of the pro rata share of Giant Eagle.
The jury returned a verdict in favor of the plaintiff in the amount of $31,000.00. The jury found Giant Eagle was sixty percent negligent and Stanley to be forty percent negligent. Stanley paid $8,500.00 to Charles, taking the position that the verdict against it should be reduced by the amount by which Giant Eagle’s payment to the plaintiff exceeded sixty percent of the verdict.
A majority of this Court concluded that Stanley was required to pay the plaintiff $12,400.00 — the full amount of its forty percent share of the jury verdict to Charles. The majority stated that, “The responsibility of the settling tortfeasor should be finally resolved by the terms of the settlement.” Charles, 513 Pa. at 479, 522 A.2d at 3. The majority concluded that its interpretation was supported by Section 8326 of the UCATA which states:
A release by the injured person of one joint tortfeasor, whether before or after judgment, does not discharge the other tortfeasors unless the release so provides, but reduces the claim against the other tortfeasors in the amount of the consideration paid for the release or in any amount or proportion by which the release provides that the total claim shall be reduced if greater than the consideration paid.
*58842 Pa.C.S.A. § 8326. The majority held that § 8326 affords the parties to the release an option to determine the amount or proportion by which the total claim shall be reduced provided that the total claim is greater than the consideration paid.
In upholding Avco’s right to seek contribution in this case from Hughes, the Superior Court relied upon the particular terms of the conditional release and indemnity agreement executed between Avco and the Walton plaintiffs. The Superior Court stated that, “In the final analysis, it is particularly difficult to accept the plaintiffs’ claim to Hughes’ share of the jury verdict because the plaintiffs’ [sic] accepted and agreed to the clear terms of the release agreement they executed with Avco.” Walton v. Avco Corporation, 383 Pa.Super. at 542, 557 A.2d at 385. The Superior Court found that its holding under the particular facts of this case furthered the policy considerations announced by the majority in Charles, reasoning that,
The plaintiff is encouraged to settle in view of the fact that he will recover at least the amount of the jury verdict entered against the joint defendants and perhaps a greater amount where the release consideration exceeds the total jury verdict. The nonsettling defendant, where the settling defendant has preserved the right to seek contribution, has no incentive to allow the case to go to trial in hopes of securing a windfall at the settling defendant’s expense. The settling defendant, who protected his contribution rights, has appropriately reached an agreement which is satisfactory to the plaintiff and has at the same time protected his own interests in a fair and reasonable manner.
383 Pa.Super. at 542, 557 A.2d at 384.
The Superior Court distinguished the release executed by the parties in the instant case from the Charles release, stating:
Unlike the settling tortfeasor in Charles, the settling tortfeasor here, Avco, did not pay consideration to the plaintiffs to be released unconditionally from further *589involvement in the lawsuit. On the contrary, Avco specifically provided in its release agreement with plaintiffs that its involvement in the lawsuit would continue in so far as Avco retained the right to seek contribution. Avco conditioned its payment of the settlement monies on the basis that if [sic] had overestimated its own liability to the plaintiffs, it could remedy this mistake by pursuing its contribution rights against other liable parties. The terms of Avco’s release agreement controls Avco’s right to seek contribution from Hughes. Our result in this regard is simply unaffected by the Charles decision where the parties to the settlement agreement had merely provided that the total claim would be reduced by Giant Eagle’s pro rata share of the jury verdict.
383 Pa.Super. 518, 540-41, 557 A.2d 372, 384 (1989) (Emphasis supplied).
The Superior Court’s analysis in this case was a valiant and erudite effort to apply the principles the majority appeared to support in Charles. Even though the Charles majority emphasized that the responsibility of the settling tortfeasor should be defined by the terms of the settlement agreement, it quickly abandoned that principle at this first opportunity to address the issue when the unambiguous terms of the agreement would permit a settling tortfeasor to seek contribution from the non-settling tortfeasor.
As I stated in my dissenting opinion, however, the majority in Charles rewrote the Uniform Contribution Among Tortfeasors Act so as to render it meaningless and obliterated the legislated right of contribution which exists among joint tortfeasors. The examples that I used to demonstrate the consequences of the Charles majority’s analysis portended the harsh result that the majority now seeks to justify. Notably, the examples showed that in not one of the cases would the settling tortfeasor have a right to contribution.
Under the majority’s analysis in this case, a contractual agreement may be disregarded as well. A right to contribution will never be upheld in a case involving a settlement *590by one of the joint tortfeasors. Despite the explicit terms of the release agreed to by the Walton plaintiffs, no right to contribution can be enforced.
In perpetuating the analytical error made in Charles, the majority hides behind its “commitment to promoting the policies that fueled its decision” in that case. The majority stands by the policy of encouraging settlements, as if settlements would be discouraged by requiring plaintiffs to live up to their part of the bargain. In exchange for the payment of $922,355.00, the Walton plaintiffs agreed the claim against a non-settling tortfeasor would be reduced by the greater of (a) the amount of the consideration paid; or (b) the amount determined by the sum of the pro rata share of legal responsibility for which Avco was held liable.
I would enforce the terms of the release and indemnity agreement. Avco satisfied its obligation to pay the stated consideration for the release. So, too, should the Walton plaintiffs satisfy their obligation. I find that to be a social policy equally worth promoting.