Washington State recognizes joint and several liability in certain circumstances. This doctrine can have a significant impact on how defendants share responsibility for a personal injury claimant’s injuries.
Personal injury lawsuits do not always involve just one defendant. Multiple drivers may potentially be at fault in a car accident. Where the defendant driver is working at the time of the accident, both the driver and the driver’s employer are potential defendants. Or the accident victim may be a passenger in a car involved in an accident caused by both the driver’s negligence and the negligence of some governmental entity, such as a county or the state, in designing or signing the road.
Several Liability
A Washington statute, RCW 4.22.070, provides that in any action involving the fault of more than one entity, the jury is required to determine the percentage of total fault of each person or entity that contributed to the claimant’s damages.
With three exceptions, each defendant is only liable for the percentage of fault assigned to them by the jury. This is referred to as several liability. For example, assume a jury awards the plaintiff $100,000 in a lawsuit in which there are two defendants. Assume also that the jury assesses 20% of the fault for the accident to the plaintiff, 50% of the fault to one of the defendants, and 30% of the fault to the other defendant. The plaintiff would then only be entitled to recover $80,000 total from the two defendants. Of this amount, the defendant found to be 50% at fault would only be responsible to pay $50,000 of the plaintiff’s damages and the defendant found 30% at fault would pay $30,000.
Joint and Several Liability
The three exceptions in RCW 4.22.070 create joint and several liability between defendants. Where a defendant is jointly and severally liable with another defendant, the plaintiff can recover the full amount of his or her damages from the defendant, even if the jury found that the other defendant was partially at fault for the incident. It is then up to the defendants to apportion responsibility for the plaintiff’s damages.
The Plaintiff is Fault-Free
The first statutory exception to several liability is when the claimant is found to be fault free. For example, if a jury finds that the plaintiff’s damages are $100,000 and is fault-free, if each defendant is individually liable to the defendant for the full $100,000 awarded to the plaintiff, even if the jury finds one of the two defendants to be only 10% at fault for the accident. If a defendant found to be only partially at fault pays the full amount of the judgment, the defendant is entitled to contribution from the other defendant for proportion of fault attributed to that defendant by the jury. For example, if a 10% at fault defendant pays the full amount of the judgment, that defendant is entitled to contribution from the other defendant for 90% of the amount paid. A rationale for joint and several liability under this exception is that it ensures fault-free plaintiffs will be fully compensated for their injuries.
The Defendants are Acting in Concert
The second statutory exception is where the defendants are acting in concert
One Defendant is the Agent of the Other
The third statutory exception is where one defendant is acting as the agent or servant of the other. Again, where this is the case, these defendants are jointly and severally liable for the claimant’s damages.
Defendants who settle out and are released by the claimant before a judgment is entered cannot be held jointly and severally liable with other defendants against whom judgment is entered, however. Parties immune from judgment, such as employers granted immunity under Washington’s worker’s compensation act, also cannot be held jointly and severally liable on a judgment. Barton v. State, Dept. of Transp.