Salamone v. Wincaf Properties, Inc.

9 A.D.3d 127, 777 N.Y.S.2d 37, 2004 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 5049
CourtAppellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York
DecidedApril 29, 2004
StatusPublished
Cited by12 cases

This text of 9 A.D.3d 127 (Salamone v. Wincaf Properties, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Salamone v. Wincaf Properties, Inc., 9 A.D.3d 127, 777 N.Y.S.2d 37, 2004 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 5049 (N.Y. Ct. App. 2004).

Opinion

OPINION OF THE COURT

Friedman, J.

Under the common-law rule of joint and several liability, where the acts of several tortfeasors coincide to cause injury to a plaintiff, any one of those tortfeasors may be held liable for the entire amount of damages, no matter how small that tortfeasor’s proportionate share of the fault (see Sommer v Federal Signal Corp., 79 NY2d 540, 556 [1992]). In 1986, the Legislature, acting out of a concern to “remedy the inequities created by joint and several liability on low-fault, ‘deep pocket’ defendants” (Rangolan v County of Nassau, 96 NY2d 42, 46 [2001]), restricted the applicability of joint and several liability in personal injury actions by enacting article 16 of the CPLR (L 1986, ch 682, § 6; amended L 1996, ch 635, §§ 5-8).

Under CPLR 1601 (1), a defendant bearing 50% or less of fault for a plaintiffs personal injury is liable for noneconomic damages only to the extent of that defendant’s proportionate share of fault. The applicability of this rule is, however, subject to the exceptions and limitations set forth in CPLR 1602, a statute that has been said to possess “the elegance and clarity of the Internal Revenue Code” (McLaughlin, Practice Commentaries, McKinney’s Cons Laws of NY, Book 7B, CPLR C1602:1, 1997 Pocket Part, at 237 [1976 ed]). In recent years, the Court of Appeals has resolved certain recurrent difficulties in applying CPLR 1602 (see Chianese v Meier, 98 NY2d 270 [2002] [construing the exception for “actions requiring proof of intent” under CPLR 1602 (5)]; Rangolan v County of Nassau, supra [construing the savings provision for “any liability arising by reason of a nondelegable duty or by reason of the doctrine of respondeat [129]*129superior” under CPLR 1602 (2) (iv)]; Faragiano v Town of Concord, 96 NY2d 776 [2001] [addressing same issue as Rangolan]). As described below, this appeal presents yet another problem in the construction of this complex statute.

In the present case, the owner of a construction site, although not directly at fault for plaintiff laborer’s injuries, has been held vicariously liable for all of plaintiff’s damages, including millions of dollars for noneconomic loss, pursuant to Labor Law § 240 (1). It is clear that the owner, notwithstanding its complete lack of fault, was not entitled to invoke CPLR article 16 as a partial defense to plaintiffs claim because, among other reasons, article 16’s limitations on a defendant’s liability do “not apply to any person held liable by reason of the applicability of article ten of the [L]abor [L]aw” (CPLR 1602 [8]). The question presented by this appeal is whether the protection of CPLR article 16, although unavailable to the faultless, vicariously liable owner vis-á-vis plaintiff, limits the extent to which that owner may obtain common-law indemnification from a contractor that is actually at fault, but whose proportionate share of the fault is less than 50%. For the reasons discussed below, we conclude that, pursuant to its savings provision for indemnification claims (CPLR 1602 [2] [ii]), CPLR article 16 does not limit the owner’s right of indemnification against such a contractor. Factual Background

On September 24, 1992, plaintiff Andrea Salamone suffered devastating injuries when he fell through an unfinished roof while working on a construction project as an employee of third-party defendant Bronte Construction (Bronte). In or about March 1993, plaintiff (and his wife, derivatively) commenced this personal injury action in Supreme Court, Bronx County, against defendant and third-party plaintiff Wincaf Properties, Inc. (Wincaf), the owner of the construction site. Plaintiff sued Wincaf under Labor Law § 240 (1), among other theories. Wincaf, in turn, commenced a third-party action for contribution or indemnification against Bronte and T.O.M.I. Construction, Inc. (TOMI), another contractor that had worked on the project.

The action was tried before a jury in 1995. The jury allocated responsibility for plaintiff’s injuries 45% to Wincaf, 15% to Bronte, and 40% to TOMI, and awarded plaintiff, inter alia, $150,000 for past pain and suffering and $920,000 for future pain and suffering. On the parties’ posttrial motions, the trial court, by order entered April 15, 1996, vacated the awards for past and future pain and suffering and ordered a new trial as to [130]*130such damages, unless the parties stipulated to increase those awards to $500,000 and $1,800,000, respectively. The same order also granted Wincaf a directed verdict on its claim for common-law indemnification against Bronte and TOMI, but denied Wincaf s motion insofar as it sought to set aside the verdict finding it 45% at fault for the accident.

On appeal from the posttrial order, this Court, by order dated April 23, 1998, affirmed as to the damages and indemnification issues, but modified:

“to the extent of granting Wincaf s motion to set aside the verdict insofar as to vacate the jury’s apportionment of fault and to substitute therefor the finding that Wincaf’s liability pursuant to Labor Law § 240 (1) is vicarious only, and to remand the matter for a new trial for the sole purpose of reapportioning liability among the defendants other than Wincaf’ (249 AD2d 169, 169-170 [1998]).

In the body of our decision, we explained that Wincaf was entitled to indemnification from Bronte and TOMI as a matter of law because “Wincaf’s liability for plaintiff’s damages was solely statutory, pursuant to Labor Law § 240 (1); there was no evidence that Wincaf directed or controlled the work performed by its subcontractors” (249 AD2d at 170). We further explained that the jury’s allocation of fault to Wincaf could not stand, and a new trial was necessary to reapportion fault between Bronte and TOMI, because “Wincaf cannot have been at once entitled to common-law indemnification and, as the jury found, 45% responsible for plaintiffs injury” (id.).

On June 30, 1998, after the case was remanded to the trial court, plaintiffs and Wincaf stipulated, on the record, to entry of judgment in favor of plaintiffs against Wincaf in accordance with the trial court’s posttrial order, as affirmed by this Court; in the following amounts: $500,000 for past pain and suffering; $1,800,000 for future pain and suffering; $200,000 for future lost earnings; and $50,000 for loss of consortium. The stipulation further provided that plaintiffs and Wincaf were agreeing to entry of judgment on the cause of action under Labor Law § 240. The stipulation, to which Bronte was not a party, made no reference to structuring of the judgment pursuant to CPLR article 50-B.

Wincaf subsequently served a notice of settlement of a proposed judgment granting plaintiffs recovery against Wincaf of the amounts provided by the stipulation (plus postverdict [131]*131interest, costs, and disbursements), and further granting Wincaf judgment “based upon complete common law indemnity” against the third-party defendants, Bronte and TOMI. The judgment submitted by Wincaf, which did not include any provision for structuring, was entered by the Clerk on October 13, 1998. There is no indication that Bronte served any proposed counter-judgment, pursuant to 22 NYCRR 202.48 (c) (2), in response to Wincaf s notice of settlement.

At some point after the judgment was entered, Wincaf moved to resettle the judgment to provide for structuring pursuant to CPLR article 50-B.

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Bluebook (online)
9 A.D.3d 127, 777 N.Y.S.2d 37, 2004 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 5049, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/salamone-v-wincaf-properties-inc-nyappdiv-2004.