Section 23 Statute of Limitations for Contribution Claims

• Library: Damages 2012

In State ex rel. General Electric Co. v. Gaertner, 666 S.W.2d 764 (Mo. banc 1984), the Court held that a tortfeasor can seek contribution through third-party practice at any time during the pendency of the original plaintiff’s timely filed suit, regardless of whether the statute of limitations has expired on the plaintiff’s original claim. The underlying plaintiff in Gaertner brought suit for damages, alleging that a fire resulted from a light designed, manufactured, supplied, and sold by the original defendant. Id.
at 765. More than five years after the fire, the original defendant initiated a third-party action against another potentially responsible party. The third-party defendant filed a motion for summary judgment contending that the five-year statute of limitations applicable to the original plaintiff’s claim was also applicable to any third-party action. Id. On the trial court’s denial of the motion, the defendant filed a petition for writ of prohibition. Id.

In resolving the timing issues, the Supreme Court stated that Rule 52.11(a), which governs third-party practice, does not contemplate a time limitation on the right to file a third-party proceeding. Gaertner, 666 S.W.2d at 766. Additionally, the Court reasoned that the drafters of the UCFA did not intend to bar third-party suits during the pendency of the underlying action because the UCFA provides in § 5(c) that a separate action to enforce contribution can be filed at any time within one year after judgment in the original underlying action. Gaertner, 666 S.W.2d at 767. Accordingly, the Court held that a tortfeasor may use third-party practice to enforce the right to obtain a relative...