Buttorff v. Sun Oil Co.
Buttorff v. Sun Oil Co.
Opinion of the Court
The defendant in this case filed a third party complaint, which the plaintiffs have moved to dismiss as to D. Maude Buttorff.
The plaintiffs contend that the third party complaint should be dismissed; first, because the defendant did not give notice to the plaintiffs of its motion to bring in D. Maude Buttorff as a third-party defendant; second, because of an alleged covenant not to sue D. Maude Buttorff and executed by the plaintiffs; and, third, because the third-party complaint does not show a right to recover against D. Maude Buttorff.
The facts pertinent to the first contention are as follows: On August 1, 1942, the defendant filed with the Clerk of this Court a motion for leave to bring in D. Maude Buttorff as a third party defendant. The motion was submitted to a judge of this Court, the writer of this opinion, who
The second contention of the plaintiffs is based upon the existence and validity of an alleged covenant not to sue. This covenant appears in the record of this case for the first time in the plaintiffs’ motion. The defendant, in what purports to be an answer to the motion, denies the existence of the covenant and, as a further complication, the attorney for the plaintiffs states, in a supplement to his brief, that if the covenant not to sue be considered as an effective bar to the action by the minor plaintiff against the defendant, the minor plaintiff will repudiate the covenant. It can, therefore, be said without exaggeration that this contention of the plaintiffs is not supported by clear and undisputed facts. Therefore, the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure do not permit the consideration of this contention at this time.
As to plaintiffs’ third contention, I believe that the third party complaint fully complies with the requirements of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and is, therefore, sufficient.
Now, October 5, 1942, it is ordered that the motion of the plaintiffs to dismiss the third party complaint against D. Maude Buttorff, be, and it is hereby, denied.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- BUTTORFF v. SUN OIL CO. (BUTTORFF, Third Party Defendants)
- Status
- Published