Krien v. Harsco Corp.

Federal 7th Circuit Court
Civil Court
Indemnity
Citation
Case Number: 
No. 13-2272
Decision Date: 
March 13, 2014
Federal District: 
E.D. Wisc.
Holding: 
Reversed and remanded
Dist. Ct. erred in granting third-party defendant’s motion for summary judgment in third-party complaint seeking indemnification for $900,000 settlement that third-party plaintiff paid to plaintiff (employee of third-party defendant) in personal injury action arising out of fall plaintiff experienced while using third-party plaintiff’s scaffold at construction site operated by third-party defendant. Third-party plaintiff was entitled to indemnity where operative contract language required third-party defendant to indemnify third-party plaintiff where, as here, third-party plaintiff sustained loss arising out of injuries incurred by employees of third-party defendant who had been using equipment supplied by third-party plaintiff. Moreover, record did not otherwise indicate that third-party plaintiff, which was not at construction site at time of accident, was negligent in “operating” scaffold plank that had broken under plaintiff’s feet. Fact that plaintiff could not directly sue third-party defendant because of Wisc. workers’ compensation law did not require different result.