Court Opinion

ID: 9766746
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-29 04:57:40.546042+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:30:25.541903
License: Public Domain

Dissenting Opinion by
Mr. Justice Cohen :
Pa. R. C. P. 2252 provides: “(a) In any action the defendant or any additional defendant may file as of course, a praecipe for a writ, or a complaint, to join as an additional defendant any person not a party to the action who may he alone liable or liable over to him on the cause of action declared upon or jointly or severally liable thereon with him.” (Emphasis supplied). Insofar as the joinder sought by the original defendants is based upon the sole liability of the additional defendant to the plaintiff I fail to see how it violates the release given by the original defendant to the additional defendant of any claims the former may have against the latter. Such a joinder does not constitute a demand or claim by the original defendant against the additional defendant. It merely asserts that the additional defendant is solely liable to the plaintiff on the latter’s cause of action.
*559In Davis v. Miller, 385 Pa. 348, 123 A. 2d 422 (1956), we held that where both the plaintiff and the defendant had released the additional defendant “from all actions, causes of action, claims, demands, etc.” the joinder of the additional defendant was permissible, because if defendant could prove that the additional defendant was, in fact, a joint tortfeasor with him the damages recoverable by plaintiff against defendant would be reduced, pursuant to the Uniform Contribution Among Joint Tortfeasors Act. See Davis, supra, at p. 352. We said that “although [the original defendant] cannot recover contribution from the additional defendant, he does have an extremely valuable right in retaining her in the case, because, if the jury should find her to be a joint tortfeasor, his liability to plaintiffs would be cut in half. Her continuance in the case is therefore necessary, even though no recovery can be had against her either by plaintiffs or by defendant, in order to determine the amount of damages that defendant may be obliged to pay plaintiffs. . . .” Similarly, in this case defendant has a valuable right in retaining the additional defendant in the case on the basis of the latter’s sole liability. If defendant can prove such sole liability no judgment could be entered against him. And he would not thereby be seeking to recover or claim anything from the additional defendant in violation of his release.
Killian v. Catanese, 375 Pa. 593, 101 A. 2d 379 (1954), is not in conflict with my opinion in this case because, as we explained in Davis, supra at p. 350, all that Killian held was that “where the defendant had given a general release of all claims against the additional defendant ... he could not assert any right of contribution against him. . . (Emphasis supplied).
I do not mean to suggest that the original defendant could not have released his right to join the additional defendant on the basis of the latter’s sole lia*560bility. But I do not perceive tbe slightest intent to do so in the release before ns. Moreover, I would require a rather clear expression of such an intent, because, in the ordinary case, the releasing party is being paid only for injuries that he might have sustained and not for his right to assert that the released party is solely responsible for the accident.
Accordingly, I would permit the joinder of the additional defendant for the purpose of proving his sole liability. Therefore, I dissent.
Mr. Justice Jones joins in this dissenting opinion.