St. Vincent Infirmary Medical Center and Catholic Health Initiatives v. Edgar Shelton and Clara Shelton

Summary

The court affirmed the order striking St. Vincent’s third-party complaint against Golden Living. It held that the several-liability statute did not create a cause of action for allocating fault to a dismissed nonparty and that the Uniform Contribution Among Tortfeasors Act did not provide a contribution claim because the parties were not joint tortfeasors under the statutory scheme. The court also held that Golden Living was neither a necessary party nor properly subject to impleader, although St. Vincent could present evidence of Golden Living’s responsibility at trial. Justice Danielson, dissenting, and Justice Hart, dissenting in part and concurring in part with Baker joining, would have permitted a procedure to allocate Golden Living’s fault.