Wengert

Since the passage of Proposition 51 in 1986, tort liability for noneconomic damages has been several; the former rule of joint liability was preserved only for economic damages. (Civ. Code, § 1431.2.) In this case, we consider the impact of this change on settling tortfeasors’ right to seek comparative equitable indemnity from a nonsettling concurrent tortfea-sor. We conclude that comparative equitable indemnity is available only for that portion of a settlement attributable to economic damages, because that is the extent of the underlying joint obligation. A defendant has no right to settle the plaintiff’s claim against another party for noneconomic damages. Each defendant is entitled to severally negotiate or litigate its own several liability.

Richard Wengert appeals from a judgment holding him liable for $600,000 of a $3 million settlement negotiated by respondents Union Pacific Corporation, LMC Transport Company, Inc., and Bhupinder Singh. Richard and Linda Carroll had sued the settling parties and Wengert, doing business as Richard’s Trailer Inspection Service, for damages arising from an accident at Union Pacific’s freight yard in Stockton. Union Pacific…