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Stickler v. American Augers9/14/2001
UNPUBLISHED
American Augers, Inc., appeals the dismissal of its third-party complaint against Cee-Jay Contractors, Inc. seeking contribution. We reverse and remand.
Plaintiff, Donna Stickler, filed a wrongful death and survival action against defendant, American Augers, Inc. (Augers), the manufacturer of an auger that tipped over and crushed plaintiff's decedent, Harry D. Stickler. Plaintiff subsequently amended her complaint adding three other defendants, the Village of Schaumburg, Blackmore Construction, Inc. (Blackmore), and Pavia-Marting & Company (Pavia), all of which had some supervisory authority over the construction project where decedent's fatal accident occurred (collectively, the construction defendants). Augers and the construction defendants filed third-party complaints for contribution against the decedent's employer, Cee-Jay Contractors, Inc. (Cee-Jay). During discovery, plaintiff negotiated a settlement with the construction defendants and Cee-Jay wherein plaintiff would release her claims against the settling parties in exchange for Cee-Jay's waiver of its workers' compensation lien of $149,143.91 and a combined, structured payment of $550,000. The agreement did not state a specific setoff amount for the non-settling defendant, Augers. The settlement was contingent upon a finding by the trial court that it was in good faith within the meaning of section 2(c) of the Joint Tortfeasor Contribution Act (Contribution Act) (740 ILCS 100/2(c) (West 1996)).
Augers objected to the settlement, arguing it was in bad faith because it would dismiss all three of the construction defendants in exchange for payment by their common insurer, CNA, of what Cee-Jay was already obligated to pay plaintiff under the Workers' Compensation Act and because it would deprive Augers of its right to obtain contribution from those defendants for an amount commensurate with their liability. Following a hearing, the trial court found the settlement had been made in good faith and allowed Augers, as the non-settling party, a setoff equal to the $699,143.91 in compensation actually received.
Augers appealed the trial court's finding that the settlement agreement was in good faith and its calculation of the setoff. After Augers initiated its appeal, Cee-Jay presented the workers' compensation portion of the settlement agreement to the Industrial Commission for its review and approval. The Industrial Commission, which was not advised that the settlement agreement was under review in this court, approved the settlement on October 23, 1997.
We reviewed the trial court's finding under the abuse of discretion standard, taking into consideration the entire record, including Cee-Jay's petition for a good faith-finding, which contained a detailed explanation of the settlement terms; Auger's response to the petition; the relevant hearing transcripts; the evidence presented to the trial court including the then-undisputed estimate as to Cee-Jay's long-term workers' compensation liability, the result of the Occupational Safety and Health Agency's investigation into the cause of the accident; and the practical impact of a good-faith finding upon the remaining defendant. We stated, " he trial court should not equate the validity of the settlement as between the plaintiff and the settling defendant with whether the settlement was in good faith for purposes of the Contribution Act" (Stickler v. American Augers, Inc., 303 Ill. App. 3d 689, 693, 708 N.E.2d 403, 406 (1999)), and found that the trial court erred in finding that the settlement was made in good faith. We reversed the trial court's good-faith finding and its calculation of the setoff and remanded for further proceedings.<
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