Duffy v. County of Chautauqua

In Duffy v. County of Chautauqua (225 A.D.2d 261 [4th Dept], lv dismissed 89 NY2d 980 [1996]), two construction workers were injured and a third killed when a bridge collapsed while the three workers were driving a truck over it. Plaintiffs sued the County of Chautauqua (the County) for negligence, who impleaded the workers' employee, G & J Construction Corp. (G & J), and its principal, Steven Nichols, who had been driving a 16-ton crane that was also on the bridge when it collapsed. After trial, a jury found the County 25% liable and G & J and/or Nichols 75% liable for the accident. (Duffy, 225 A.D.2d at 265-266.) The Fourth Department held that the negligence of plaintiff's decedent John Duffy, the truck's driver, could be included when apportioning the tortfeasors' liability share under CPLR 1601, although Duffy's coworker plaintiffs were barred from suing him under the statutory "fellow servant" rule. (See Workers' Compen. Law 11, 29 [6].) The Court found that " the statutory bar of the Workers' Compensation Law does not constitute the inability to obtain jurisdiction as intended by CPLR 1601," because the term "jurisdiction" in CPLR 1601 (1) "refers to personal rather than to subject matter jurisdiction." (Duffy, 225 A.D.2d at 266, 267.) Inasmuch as Duffy's coworkers had never shown that they could not obtain personal jurisdiction over him by serving his estate, the CPLR 1601 (1) proviso did not apply and "Duffy's negligence, if any, would ordinarily be a factor in apportioning liability." (Duffy, 225 A.D.2d at 267.)