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Doe Parents No. 1 v. State11/27/2002
ommon law rule, which mandated that the release of an employee from liability in a tort action automatically released the employer from respondeat superior liability. See 78 Hawaii at 8-9, 889 P.2d at 692-93. It was explained that the UCATA definition of joint tortfeasors, "which is based on liability rather than negligence, 'is exceedingly broad and goes beyond the traditional meaning of the term.'" Id. (quoting Holve v. Draper, 505 P.2d 1265, 1267 (Idaho 1973)). Thus, this court held that the "plain and unambiguous language of the 1939 version [of the UCATA] abrogates the common law rule that the release of an employee automatically releases his/her vicariously liable employer." Id. at 12, 889 P.2d at 696.
Other jurisdictions have adhered to the same view. Cf. New Amsterdam Cas. Co. v. Holmes, 435 F.2d 1232, 1234 (1st Cir. 1970) ("liable in tort" does not require present liability to whoever might be a particular plaintiff); MetroHealth Med. Center v. Hoffmamn-LaRoche, Inc., 685 N.E.2d 529 (Ohio 1997) (a contribution claim is not barred by the fact that the underlying claimant failed to comply with the statute of limitation as to the contribution defendant); Hayon v. Coca Cola Bottling Co. of New England, 378 N.E.2d 442, 445 (Mass. 1978) ("The term 'liable in tort' . . . is broad in scope and not suitable language for implying a narrow or restricted range of application within the framework of potential tort defendants."); Zarrella v. Miller, 217 A.2d 673, 676 (R.I. 1966) (" tort-feasor may recover such contribution even though, for some reason, the plaintiff who has obtained a judgment against both of them is precluded from enforcing liability thereunder against the joint tort-feasor." (Citing Puller v. Puller, 110 A.2d 175, 177 (Pa. 1955)). In MetroHealth, the Supreme Court of Ohio held that a tortfeasor's contribution claim did not fail "merely because the underlying claimant failed to comply with a statute of limitations as to the contribution defendant." 685 N.E.2d at 533. The MetroHealth court recognized that a contrary position would allow a plaintiff to "wait to file a complaint until a claim against one of the defendants, but not the other, was time-barred, thereby destroying the disfavored defendant's statutory right to contribution." Id.
But in Ozaki v. Association of Apt. Owners of Discovery Bay, 87 Hawaii 265, 954 P.2d 644 (1998) [hereinafter "Ozaki II"], this court stated in a brief footnote, without analysis, that only parties as to whom damages could be recovered are joint tortfeasors. Id. at 270 n.5, 954 P.2d at 649 n.5. While acknowledging that " he definition of 'joint tortfeasors' . . . 'is based on liability[,]'" this court, quoting Black's Law Dictionary, said that parties "cannot be jointly and/or severally liable with another unless ' he person who has been harmed can sue and recover from both[.]" Id. (quoting to Black's Law Dictionary 914 (6th ed. 1990) (emphasis in original)). Such language implies that a person or entity can only be a joint tortfeasor if recovery is possible. See also Gump v. Walmart Stores, Inc., 93 Hawaii 417, 5 P.3d 407 (2000) [hereinafterGump II] ("A party is liable within the meaning of section 663-11 if the injured person could have recovered damages in a direct action against that party, had the injured person chosen to pursue such an action." (Quoting Velazquez v. National Presto Ind., 884 F.2d 492, 495 (9th Cir. 1989)); Ozaki II, 87 Hawaii at 270 n.5, 954 P.2d at 649 n.5. Following this rationale, a bankrupt or judgment-proof party could never be considered a joint tortfeasor.
It should be further noted that the definition employed by the Ozaki II court was incomplete. An accurate rendition of the definition of " oint and several l
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