FLORIDA POWER & LIGHT COMPANY, A FLORIDA CORPORATION, APPELLANT,
v.
GENERAL SAFETY EQUIPMENT COMPANY, A FOREIGN CORPORATION, PITTMAN MANUFACTURING COMPANY, A FOREIGN CORPORATION, AND ROBERT NITTI, APPELLEES; DADE COUNTY, A POLITICAL SUBDIVISION, APPELLANT, V. GENERAL SAFETY EQUIPMENT COMPANY, A FOREIGN CORPORATION, PITTMAN MANUFACTURING COMPANY, A FOREIGN CORPORATION, AND ROBERT NITTI, APPELLEES
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Florida Power & Light Company and Dade County sought indemnification from manufacturers General Safety Equipment Company and Pittman Manufacturing Company for injuries caused when the county's motorized equipment contacted high-voltage power lines. The court affirmed dismissal of the third-party complaints, holding that defendants' independent negligence in operating and maintaining the equipment could not be indemnified by the manufacturers' alleged negligence in design.
The court held that third-party complaints for indemnification must be dismissed where the original complaint alleges the defendants' own independent negligence rather than vicarious or technical liability arising from another's tort. Defendants cannot recover over against manufacturers when their liability stems from their own active negligence through failure to act, even though such negligence is sometimes called 'passive.'
“If recovery were had against the defendants upon proof of their negligence as alleged it could not be said that their liability for their negligence in the form of acts or omissions was such as to place them in the position of one who, being without fault, had been subjected to vicarious or technical tort liability for the wrongful conduct of another.”
Establishes the fundamental principle that indemnification requires one party to be without fault and subject to vicarious liability, which is not the case here.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceOn April 14, 1964, Robert Nitti was injured when motorized equipment operated by Dade County on a public highway came into contact with high-voltage l…
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On April 14, 1964, Robert Nitti filed suit against Dade County and Florida Power & Light Company for damages for personal injuries, alleging negligence of the two defendants caused his injuries. The injury was suffered when motorized equipment being operated by the county on a public highway came in contact with high voltage lines of the power company. It was alleged the county was negligent in operation of the equipment, and that the power company was negligent in the operation and maintenance of its said lines in that, having knowledge of danger incident to proximity of its high voltage lines to the county’s operating machinery, it failed to de-en-ergize the lines or take other protective action. The complaint charged that the negligence of the two defendants separately caused the injury, and in the alternative that their combined negligence was the proximate cause.
The county answered, denying negligence and pleading contributory negligence and assumption of risk. The power com*488pany presented a similar answer, and m addition averred the injury was caused by others than itself. Each of the defendants filed a third party complaint against General Safety Equipment Company, herein referred to as General, and Pittman Manufacturing Company, herein referred to as Pittman. Those third party complaints were subsequently amended. They charged negligence in manufacture and assembly, and failure to inspect and to warn the user of the resultant defects, which they alleged were the cause of the injury, if any occurred. The third party plaintiffs prayed for recovery over against General and Pittman in the event of adverse judgment in the main case. On motions of General and Pittman to dismiss, the amended third party complaints were dismissed, and defendants appealed. We hold that the trial judge ruled correctly in dismissing the amended third party complaints, and affirm.
The determinative factor is that the original complaint, copies of which were appended to the amended third party complaints, did not allege negligence through defective equipment, but charged the defendants with independent torts.
If recovery were had against the defendants upon proof of their negligence as alleged it could not be said that their liability for their negligence in the form of acts or omissions was such as to place them in the position of one who, being without fault, had been subjected to vicarious or technical tort liability for the wrongful conduct of another. Seaboard Air Line R. R. Co. v. American District Electric Protective Co., 106 Fla. 330, 143 So. 316; 140 A.L.R. 1306, citing with approval Fidelity & Casualty Co. of New York v. Northwestern Telephone Exchange Co., 140 Minn. 229, 167 N.W. 800, 801-802. A clear statement of the rule also is made in Miller v. DeWitt, 59 Ill.App.2d 38, 208 N.E.2d 249, 297-298.
The power company argues that it is entitled to recover over against General and Pittman whom it charged with negligence in manufacture and assembly, because its (the power company’s) negligence, if any, by omissions to act, was “passive”. Although in defining negligence, omission to act is frequently referred to as passive negligence, it does not follow that it is entitled to be so classified in contemplation of the rule regarding indemnification. Thus, where one is vicariously or technically liable in tort as a result of the active tort of another, between them the liability of the latter is primary and that of the former is secondary regardless of whether the latter’s negligence consisted of his acts or of his failure or omission to act. The difference here is that the liability of the power company, if established on the allegations of negligence in the complaint, would not be a vicarious or technical liability arising from tort of another, but its liability would result from its active negligence through its failure or omission to act as required under certain circumstances.
Affirmed.
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Houdaille Indus., Inc. v. Edwards, 374 So. 2d 490 (Fla. 1979)…ive-passive or primary-secondary— what they are really speaking of is fault or no fault. E. g., Stuart v. Hertz Corporation; Florida Power Corp. v. Taylor, 332 So. 2d 687 (Fla. 2d DCA 1976); Florida Power & Light Co. v. General Safety Equipment Co., 213 So. 2d 486 (Fla. 3d DCA 1968); Winn Dixie Stores, Inc. v. Fellows, 153 So. 2d 45 (Fla. 1st DCA 1963), modified by elimination of one sentence, 160 So. 2d 102 (Fla.1964). Florida Wire asserts that the only way to classify a tortfeasor’s negligence as active or…
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Univ. Plaza Shopping Ctr., Inc. v. Stewart, 272 So. 2d 507 (Fla. 1973)…solely by the negligence of the landlord, i. e., indemnitee. . Winn-Dixie Stores, Inc. v. Fellows, 153 So. 2d 45 (Fla.App. 1st 1963), modified on other grounds, 160 So. 2d 102 (Fla.1964); and Florida Power & Light Co. v. General Safety Equip. Co., 213 So. 2d 486 (Fla.App.3d 1968). .■ 41 Am.Jur.2d, Indemnity, § 15 at p. 700. . Ibid., pp. 700-702. . United States v. Seekinger, 397 U.S. 203, 90 S.Ct. 880, 25 L.Ed.2d 224 (1970). . National Education Ass’n v. Lee County Board of Public Instruction, 260 So. 2…
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Mims Crane Serv., Inc. v. Insley Mfg. Corp., 226 So. 2d 836 (Fla. 2d DCA 1969)…D.Ind.1957, 171 F.Supp. 467; McDonald v. Blue Jeans Corp., U.S.D.C. S.D.N.Y.1960, 183 F.Supp. 149, unless the party making payment is barred by the wrongful nature of his conduct, Florida Power & Light Co. v. General Safety Equip. Co., Fla.App.1968, 213 So. 2d 486. The so-called active-passive tortfeasor principle is recognized in Florida, Great A. & P. Tea Co. v. Federal Detective Agency, Inc., Fla.App. 1963, 157 So. 2d 148; Winn-Dixie Stores, Inc. v. Fellows, Fla.App.1963, 153 So. 2d 45; Fincher Motor Sales…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- Seaboard Air Line Ry. Co. v. Am. Dist. Elec. Protective Co., 106 Fla. 330 (Fla. 1932)