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Accu-Fab & Construction3/14/2000
r the allocation of fault and contribution among joint tort-feasors. Section 85-5-7(7) places the responsibility upon the triers of fact to "determine the percentage of fault of each party alleged to be at fault." The trial court, based upon McBride, interpreted the term "party" to mean an actual party to the lawsuit. McBride, 673 So. 2d at 372. Anderson and Accu-Fab argue that the trial court was in error and that pursuant to the Mississippi Supreme Court's holding in Estate of Hunter v. General Motors Corporation, 729 So. 2d 1264 ( 29-38) (Miss. 1999), the trial court was required to include Bracken as a party for the purpose of the jury apportioning damages.
. In the recently decided case of Estate of Hunter, the Mississippi Supreme Court considered the issue of the ramifications of the term "party" and specifically held that any party alleged to be at fault, whether or not made a defendant to the suit, may have fault apportioned against him under Miss. Code Ann. § 85-5-7. Id. Due to the legal position of Bracken in the case at bar, this Court finds Estate of Hunter, is distinguishable from the case at bar, and therefore, inapplicable. Therefore, we come to the ultimate conclusion reached by the trial judge that Bracken is not a "party" for the purpose of apportionment.
. In Estate of Hunter, the plaintiffs urged that a settling defendant should not be included in the apportionment of damages. Id. at ( 29). The Mississippi Supreme Court held that the jury could consider the fault of a settling truck driver and his employer in apportioning fault under comparative negligence principles. Id. at ( 44). The primary distinction in Hunter is the fact that there was no law that regulated this settlement, and if the plaintiffs had not reached a previous settlement with the truck driver and his employer, they would not have been precluded from pursuing a lawsuit for negligence. In the case at bar, the representative for the estate of Ladner was not vested with the discretion to elect to pursue any other course for compensation other than workers' compensation benefits. We first approach this distinction between the factual scenarios in the case at bar and the one in Hunter by looking to the dissent in this opinion for the definition of the word "party," and although this opinion is not authoritative, we are inclined to agree with the definition for the term.
. The dissenters in Hunter, rely on the definition supplied within Black's Law Dictionary. Id. at ( 65).
A "party" to an action is a person whose name is designated on record as the plaintiff or defendant . . . . "Party" is a technical word having a precise meaning in legal parlance; it refers to those by or against whom a legal suit is brought, whether in law or in equity, the party plaintiff or defendant, whether composed of one or more individuals and whether natural or legal persons; all others who may be affected by the suit, indirectly or consequently, are person interested but not parties. Black's Law Dictionary 1122 (6th ed. 1990) (citations omitted).
With the acceptance of this definition of "party," on its face it appears that Bracken is not to be considered a party; therefore, the jury was not to consider Bracken in allocating damages. We now further elaborate on the factors in the case at bar that prevent the jury from considering Bracken when allocating fault relative to Anderson and Accu-Fab who were named as defendants in this civil action.
. Bracken was in the unique position of having no fault pursuant to the Longshore and Harbor Workers' Compensation Act, codified as 33 U.S.C. § 901. This outcome was predetermined by the mere fact that Ladner had accepted employment wi
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