Mountain States Telephone & Telegraph Co. v. Corbin-Dykes Electric Co.

559 P.2d 1067, 114 Ariz. 152, 1976 Ariz. App. LEXIS 736
CourtArizona Supreme Court
DecidedOctober 14, 1976
DocketNo. 1 CA-CIV 2915
StatusPublished

This text of 559 P.2d 1067 (Mountain States Telephone & Telegraph Co. v. Corbin-Dykes Electric Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Arizona Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Mountain States Telephone & Telegraph Co. v. Corbin-Dykes Electric Co., 559 P.2d 1067, 114 Ariz. 152, 1976 Ariz. App. LEXIS 736 (Ark. 1976).

Opinion

JACOBSON, Judge.

May a landowner who has created a condition on his land so as to be dangerous to third persons off the land, obtain indemnity from a contractor employed to correct that dangerous condition when the condition subsequently causes injury? This is the basic issue presented by this appeal.

Appellant, The Mountain States Telephone and Telegraph Company (Mountain States) and others have been sued as a result of deaths occurring in a collision between a pickup truck and a Southern Pacific Railway locomotive. The accident occurred at the intersection of Price Road and the Southern Pacific Railroad tracks in Tempe, Arizona. Mountain States’ liability in that action is premised on the allegation that security lighting at its maintenance yard located at the northeast corner of Price Road and the railroad tracks shone on that intersection creating a hazardous and dangerous condition and that Mountain [153]*153States negligently failed to eliminate the dangerous nature of the security lighting.

Approximately 8 months prior to the accident, Mountain States had employed appellee, Corbin-Dykes Electric Company (Cor-bin-Dykes) to “adjust yard floodlights not to shine on railroad tracks on Price Road.”

Upon being sued as the result of the pickup-locomotive collision, Mountain States filed a third party complaint against Corbin-Dykes, seeking indemnity for any damages it might incur as the result of the litigation against it on the theory that Cor-bin-Dykes, negligently failed to correct that condition. Following discovery, CorbinDykes moved for summary judgment on the third party complaint contending, in essence, that at most the evidence showed that Mountain States and Corbin-Dykes were joint tortfeasors and since, under Arizona law, no right of contribution or indemnity exists between joint tort-feasors, the third party complaint must fail. The trial court granted Corbin-Dykes’ motion for summary judgment and Mountain States has appealed.

Mountain States has characterized Its relationship to the liability creating event visa-vis Corbin-Dykes in the classic terms of “active and passive negligence” utilized in Busy Bee Buffet v. Ferrell, 82 Ariz. 192, 310 P.2d 817 (1957). Mountain States’ argument is that if in fact it owed a duty to the driver of the pickup, this was a duty imposed on it as a matter of law—a duty of a landowner not to create a dangerous condition on his premises and if in fact it breached this duty, the breach was due solely to Corbin-Dykes’ negligence in improperly performing its contractual obligation to adjust the floodlights. Mountain States then categorizes its negligence as “passive” (liability imposed as a matter of law) and CorbinDykes’ negligence as “active” (failing to correct the hazardous condition) which entitled it to indemnity under the Busy Bee doctrine.

Corbin-Dykes countered this argument by pointing out that one of the allegations of negligence made against Mountain States was its negligent failure to “eliminate the dangerous nature of the security lighting”; that assuming Corbin-Dykes negligently failed to correct this situation, this condition continued to exist for a period of 8 months following Corbin-Dykes’ adjustment; and that Mountain States’ failure to correct this lighting situation during the 8 months period constitutes “active” negligence, denying Mountain States the right to indemnity.

The court in Busy Bee found that the Buffet owed the injured plaintiff, Ferrell, the legal duty to maintain the passageway in a reasonably safe condition and in failing to do so, was liable to Ferrell for his damages. However, it permitted the Buffet to recover against the co-tenant Pastis on the basis of indemnity because it found that under the circumstances the negligence of the Buffet was incapable of producing injury to anyone at the time except through the active negligence of Pastis in leaving the trap door open. Thus, both the Buffet and Pastis were negligent, but because the injuries to Ferrell depended upon the “active” negligence of Pastis, the negligence of the Buffet, being thus “passive”, did not bar indemnity. Thus the rule preventing contribution and indemnity between joint tortfeasors did not arise under the facts of that case.

In our opinion, the Court of Appeals in Pinal County v. Adams, 13 Ariz. App. 571, 479 P.2d 718 (1971), correctly analyzed the holding in Busy Bee :

“The court in Busy Bee made it clear that it did not mean that a joint tort-feasor whose negligence is lesser can have indemnity from the other for damages caused by the concurring negligent act of both. [Emphasis added] The Busy Bee case holds that when the indemnitee, solely through the negligence of the indemnitor, breaches his duty to maintain his premises in a reasonably safe condition for use by invitees, indemnity is available.” [Emphasis in original]. 13 Ariz.App. at 573, 479 P.2d at 720.

In choosing to draw a distinction between “passive” and “active” negligence, the court in Busy Bee was referring to more than [154]*154just the amount or quantum of negligence. In a sense the court found the negligence of Pastis to have been an intervening cause which, while not relieving the Buffet of liability, was sufficient to justify shifting the loss completely from the Buffet to Pastis on principles of indemnity.

That the party seeking indemnity must be free from any negligence (regardless of the nature of that negligence) contributing to the liability creating event has been repeatedly stressed in the reported opinions subsequent to Busy Bee. See, Desert Steel Co. v. Superior Court, 22 Ariz.App. 279, 526 P.2d 1077 (1974); Allison Steel Mfg. Co. v. Superior Court, 20 Ariz.App. 185, 511 P.2d 198 (1973); Transcon Lines v. Barnes, 17 Ariz.App. 428, 498 P.2d 502 (1972); Employers’ Mutual Liability Ins. Co. of Wisconsin v. Advanced Transformer Co., 15 Ariz.App. 1, 485 P.2d 591 (1971); Chrysler Corp. v. McCarthy, 14 Ariz.App. 536, 484 P.2d 1065 (1971); City of Phoenix v. Whiting, 10 Ariz.App. 189, 457 P.2d 729 (1969); Thornton v. Marsico, 5 Ariz.App. 299, 425 P.2d 869 (1967). See also, Sherk, Common Law Indemnity Among Joint Tortfeasors, 7 Ariz.L.Rev. 59 (1965).

With this analysis in mind, we turn to Mountain States’ contention that it is entitled to indemnity from Corbin-Dykes for its alleged negligence in failing to properly adjust the security lighting so as not to shine on the Southern Pacific tracks. In doing so, we must in turn determine the basis of the liability claim asserted against Mountain States by the original plaintiff in this action.

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Related

Pinal County v. Adams
479 P.2d 718 (Court of Appeals of Arizona, 1971)
City of Phoenix v. Whiting
457 P.2d 729 (Court of Appeals of Arizona, 1969)
Allison Steel Manufacturing Co. v. Superior Court
511 P.2d 198 (Court of Appeals of Arizona, 1973)
Chrysler Corporation v. McCarthy
484 P.2d 1065 (Court of Appeals of Arizona, 1971)
Thornton v. Marsico
425 P.2d 869 (Court of Appeals of Arizona, 1967)
Transcon Lines v. Barnes
498 P.2d 502 (Court of Appeals of Arizona, 1972)
Desert Steel Co. v. SUPERIOR CT., CTY. OF MARICOPA
526 P.2d 1077 (Court of Appeals of Arizona, 1974)
Employers Mutual Liability Insurance v. Advance Transformer Co.
485 P.2d 591 (Court of Appeals of Arizona, 1971)
Busy Bee Buffet, Inc. v. Ferrell
310 P.2d 817 (Arizona Supreme Court, 1957)

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Bluebook (online)
559 P.2d 1067, 114 Ariz. 152, 1976 Ariz. App. LEXIS 736, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mountain-states-telephone-telegraph-co-v-corbin-dykes-electric-co-ariz-1976.