Reliance Electric Co. v. Superior Court

This petition for a writ of mandate challenges an order entered by respondent court following its grant of a motion for approval of the good faith of a settlement. (Code Civ. Proc., § 877.6, subds. (a) and (b).) Though the court ruled the settlement was made in good faith, it declined to dismiss a claim for indemnity which an objecting defendant had made against one of the settling defendants. The cross-defendant then filed this petition, seeking a writ of mandate directing the trial court to dismiss the indemnity claim in its entirety. We have determined the petition should be granted.

The plaintiff in the underlying action was injured when a cargo crane at the Port of Los Angeles malfunctioned, dropping a cargo container on the truck he was driving. He filed a personal injury action in 1982 against the City of Los Angeles (City), which owned the crane, and petitioner Reliance Electric Company, which, under contract with the crane’s manufacturer, had designed and manufactured certain of the crane’s electrical controls and supplied its main hoist brakes. Plaintiff did not sue the operator of the crane, Marine Terminals Corporation, which was his employer.

Marine…