Todd B. Glassman, as Executor of the Estate of Jennifer K. Collum-Glassman, deceased, v. Steven P. Friedel, M.D., Charles W. Farrell, M.D., Lon Weiner, M.D., Natacha Field, R.N., Tanya Gooden, R.N., Constance MacKay, R.N., Anuradha Thalasila, M.D., and Hackensack Meridian Health d/b/a Riverview Medical Center

Summary

The New Jersey Supreme Court addressed how damages should be allocated when a plaintiff sues successive tortfeasors and settles with the initial tortfeasors before trial. The Court overruled the pro tanto settlement-credit approach from Ciluffo v. Middlesex General Hospital and held that damages should be apportioned between the successive causative events, followed by allocation of fault among the non-settling defendants. The Court affirmed the Appellate Division as modified.

Holdings

1. The pro tanto credit awarded under Ciluffo is incompatible with New Jersey's current statutory allocation-of-fault scheme and is no longer valid. Ciluffo is overruled.
2. In a successive-tortfeasor case involving divisible damages, the jury must first apportion damages between the initial and subsequent causative events, and the damages attributed to the initial event are excluded from the judgment against the non-settling defendants.
3. After apportioning damages between causative events, the trial court must instruct the jury to allocate fault among the non-settling defendants responsible for the second causative event and mold the judgment according to those percentages under N.J.S.A. 2A:15-5.2.

Questions Presented

1. Whether a pro tanto credit based on the amount of a plaintiff's settlement with an initial tortfeasor applies against non-settling successive tortfeasors.
2. Whether the Comparative Negligence Act's fault-based allocation principles govern the apportionment of damages in a successive-tortfeasor case.
3. What procedure a trial court should use to allocate damages when a plaintiff settles with the initial tortfeasors before trial.

Disposition

affirmed