Caudle v. Whiddon

Hall, Presiding Judge. In an action for damages to a water supply from a leaking underground gasoline pipeline, [22] the defendant service station owners appeal from the grant of summary judgment to the third-party defendant, the subcontractor who installed the line. Submitted March 1, 1972— Decided April 3, 1972. Young, Young & Ellerbee, 0. Wayne Ellerbee, for appellants. Coleman, Blackburn, Kitchens & Bright, J. Converse Bright, for appellees. The court erred in granting the summary judgment. There are issues of material fact as to, among other things, the cause of the leak; whose negligence, if any, was responsible for it; and whose duty it was to cover the pipes, regardless of who actually did it. That the third-party defendant may not be liable to the defendant for all of the damages alleged, does not preclude the use of third-party practice. Code Ann. §81A-114 specifically provides for partial liability. Apportioning the damages would be for the jury. Judgment reversed. Pannell and Quillian, JJ., concur.