Court Opinion

ID: 9847398
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-24 03:59:02.167642+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:17:09.755216
License: Public Domain

On Motion for Rehearing.
Gunter, Justice.
By way of motion for rehearing in this case, Malouf has asserted that we have overlooked a principle of law having to do with third-party practice, and that we have overlooked certain material facts, both of which would require a different decision from that originally rendered.
The principle of law involves Code Ann. § 81A-114 (a) which provides that a third party complaint may be *145brought against "a person not a party to the action who is or may be liable to him for all or part of the plaintiffs claim against him.” Malouf contends that since we held that neither the plaintiffs nor Penney could sue Malouf in Georgia solely in tort, then the indemnity contract between Penney and Malouf was not "part of the plaintiffs claim” against Penney and therefore Penney could not bring in Malouf as a third party defendant.
This contended-for construction of the third party practice statute in conjunction with the Long Arm Statute is a very narrow construction indeed. We hold that this third party practice statute means that a defendant can bring in a third party non-resident defendant if the third party defendant’s liability to the defendant allegedly arises by virtue of the tort or by virtue of a contract between the defendant and the third party defendant related (for instance, indemnification) to the tort forming the basis for the original action between the damaged plaintiff and the defendant. In short, if a defendant is sued in tort, and a non-resident third party has contracted with the defendant to indemnify him against loss for such tort, then the indemnifying party can be brought into the action as a third party defendant. In such a situation the non-resident third party defendant’s liability to the defendant arises by contract out of "the plaintiffs claim” against the defendant.
Our holding in Southern R. Co. v. Insurance Co. of N. A., 228 Ga. 23 (183 SE2d 912) (1971), is not contrary to what is ruled here.
Malouf also contends that we have overlooked the material fact that if Malouf was transacting business in Georgia, it was only doing so in Cobb County, because that is where the merchandise manufactured by Malouf was delivered to Penney. The contention is that venue of any claim by Penney against Malouf must be in Cobb County under Code Ann. § 24-116. That Code section provides that venue shall lie in any county wherein the *146business was transacted or the act or omission occurred.
We held that by manufacturing merchandise and placing it in the stream of commerce in Georgia, Malouf was doing business in Georgia. In connection with that doing business in Georgia, Malouf entered into a contract with Penney agreeing to hold Penney harmless for any and all expenses and damages arising or resulting from any "alleged defect” in its merchandise. Penney was sued in Fulton County for an "alleged defect” in the merchandise. The "act” causing expenses and damages to Penney occurred when the suit was brought in Fulton County. The bringing of the suit in 1968 in Fulton County against Penney activated the obligations of Malouf to Penney contained in the contract of indemnity.
Our third-party practice statute and our Long Arm Statute, in combination, were devised and enacted for the purpose of reaching a party like Malouf and bringing it into a court in Georgia so as to get the issues among and between all the parties settled in one lawsuit.

Rehearing denied.