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Copper Mountain Inc. v. Poma of America Inc.2/6/1995
EN BANC
JUSTICE SCOTT delivered the Opinion of the Court.
We granted certiorari in Stubbs v. Copper Mountain, Inc., 862 P.2d 978 (Colo. App. 1993), to determine whether a violation of the good faith requirement of section 13-50.5-105, 6A C.R.S. (1987), discharging a settling tortfeasor from liability for contribution to nonsettling tortfeasors, requires collusive conduct. Because we conclude that it does, we affirm the judgment of the court of appeals.
I
Laura Stubbs, the plaintiff below, initiated this action against Copper Mountain, Inc., ("Copper") seeking damages for severe spinal injuries that rendered Stubbs a paraplegic when she fell from a chairlift at the Copper Mountain ski resort. The injuries occurred on February 24, 1990, when Stubbs attempted to board the American Flyer chairlift, a high-speed lift operated by Copper to transport skiers up the ski slopes. A novice skier, Stubbs had difficulty boarding the lift. According to testimony at trial given by Stubbs and other witnesses, she never was properly seated in the chairlift and, as a consequence, was dangling from the lift during the ride up the mountain slope. Several employees of Copper disagreed, testifying that Stubbs was correctly assisted onto the lift but later slipped out of her chair while airborne. There is no dispute, however, that Stubbs hung from the airborne chair for a period of time before the chairlift was stopped by the lone lift attendant working at the base. Shortly after the lift was stopped, the ski patrol arrived by snowmobile below the point where Stubbs remained suspended in the air. Unfortunately, however, before the ski patrol was able to take any action, Stubbs fell to the ground and was seriously injured.
In March of 1990, Stubbs filed a negligence action against Copper. In her complaint Stubbs alleged that Copper was negligent in its hiring, training, supervising, and staffing of lift attendants, and in its unsuccessful attempt to rescue Stubbs.
Subsequently, Stubbs and Copper initiated settlement Discussions regarding Stubbs' claims. In the course of settlement negotiations, Copper requested that Stubbs add as a defendant Poma of America, Inc. ("Poma"), the manufacturer and designer of the American Flyer chairlift. Stubbs declined, explaining that her investigations uncovered insufficient evidence to justify filing a lawsuit against Poma. In September of 1990, Copper designated Poma as a nonparty with fault pursuant to section 13-21-111.5, 6A C.R.S. (1987 & 1994 Supp.), and ultimately Stubbs amended her complaint to add Poma as a defendant.
Soon after the addition of Poma as a defendant, Stubbs and Poma began settlement negotiations. They reached an agreement in April of 1991, which provided that Poma would loan Stubbs $75,000 in cash in exchange for Stubbs' promise not to execute upon any portion of a judgment entered against Poma. The agreement also provided that in the event Stubbs did not prevail against Copper, she would not be required to repay the loan from Poma. Stubbs and Poma also informally agreed that initially they would reveal their settlement to Copper only if asked, that Poma would withdraw its motion for a continuance, that Poma would remain a named party defendant in the case, and that Poma would provide expert witnesses at trial to respond to any claims by Copper that Poma was at fault.
Meanwhile, unaware of the nature of the settlement Discussions between Poma and Stubbs, Copper continued settlement negotiations with Stubbs. A joint settlement conference was held on May 2, 1991, which both Poma and Copper were originally schedul
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