Northan v. Thomas

• Court: Supreme Court of Delaware
• Decided: March 3, 2025
• Docket: 271, 2024
• Status: Published

Opinion

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE

STEWARD L. NORTHAN, JR., § § No. 271, 2024 Plaintiff Below, Appellant, § § Court Below–the Superior v. § Court of the State of Delaware § KELLY THOMAS and § C.A. No. S23C-03-006 RUSSELL TRAVIS HOVATTER, § § Defendants Below, Appellees. § §

Submitted: February 12, 2025 Decided: March 3, 2025

Before SEITZ, Chief Justice; LEGROW and GRIFFITHS, Justices.

ORDER

After careful consideration of the parties’ briefs and the record on appeal, and

following oral argument, it appears to the Court that:

(1) The Superior Court held that Delaware’s comparative negligence

statute, 10 Del. C. § 8132, did not abrogate the common law defense of contributory

recklessness, and that the plaintiff’s decedent’s conduct constituted recklessness as

a matter of law. The Superior Court also ruled that this was a rare case in which the

evidence required a finding as a matter of law that the plaintiff’s decedent’s negligence exceeded that of the defendants. The Superior Court entered summary

judgment on this alternative ground.1

(2) We do not address the Superior Court’s holding as to contributory

recklessness. We affirm on the alternative basis that no reasonable juror could

conclude that the defendants were more negligent than the plaintiff’s decedent. As

a corollary, we do not find that defendant Thomas’ actions constituted a superseding

cause to plaintiff’s decedent’s actions.

NOW, THEREFORE, IT IS ORDERED that the judgment of the Superior

Court is AFFIRMED.

BY THE COURT:

/s/ N. Christopher Griffiths Justice

1 See Northan v. Thomas, 2024 WL 2974271, at *5 (Del. Super. Ct. June 12, 2024) (citing Trievel v. Sabo, 714 A.2d 742, 745-746 (Del. 1998)). 2