Joint and Several Liability

In a 2003 case, Norfolk & Western Railway Company vs. Ayers[20], the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that tortfeasors in FELA, and therefore Jones Act cases, are joint and severally liable, meaning that any one tortfeasor may be held responsible for the full amount of the award, without apportionment for fault of multiple tortfeasors.  A tortfeasor is a wrong doer.  A tort is a civil wrong.  In reaching this conclusion the Court found that FELA defendants are subject to the traditional rule of joint and several liability. Thisdecision strongly reaffirmed that the general maritime law of the United States adheres to the rule of full joint and several liability.  This is strongly rooted in the traditional rule that the established admiralty principle of comparative negligence includes joint and several liability of defendants.  A plaintiff is the person filing the lawsuit and the defendant is a person or company against whom the suit is filed.    

Joint and several liability is a principle wherein with respect to the plaintiff, the defendant parties are jointly liable, but as between themselves, the liabilities are several. Under this rule, a plaintiff may pursue full payment for his recovery from any one defendant, regardless of apportionment of fault, and then that defendant may pursue the other responsible parties for contribution based on their proportionate share of responsibility.

Joint and several liability is based on the theory that the defendants are in the best position to apportion damages amongst themselves. In these cases, once liability has been established, the plaintiff may collect the damages from any one defendant.  At that time, the plaintiff is no longer involved in the process and the defendants are left to settle or litigate amongst themselves to divide liability.  The theory of joint and several liability protects injured workers from insolvent defendants who are unable to pay their proportionate share of the award by allowing the worker to recover the full award from any defendant able to pay.