Plaintiffs filed a survival and wrongful death action in
the Circuit Court for Baltimore City against Dr. Hashmi, Dr. Hashmi's
professional association, and Good Samaritan Hospital of Maryland, in connection
with the death of Adrian Tyree Bennett from alleged septic shock. Plaintiffs
claimed that the Defendants failed to diagnose and treat timely the decedent's
infection.
Prior to trial, Plaintiffs settled with all of the
Defendants, except Dr. Hashmi. Relevant to the instant appeal, Plaintiffs
executed a settlement agreement and release with Good Samaritan Hospital
pre-trial. Dr. Hashmi did not settle and did not file any third-party claims
against any of the other co-defendants. Specifically, he did not sue any
Good Samaritan Hospital employee or doctor.
At trial, the jury returned a verdict in favor of
Plaintiffs finding Dr. Hashmi was negligent in the course of his care of
Adrian Bennett, and the trial court entered judgment in favor of the
Plaintiffs in an amount of $2,295,000. Thereafter, Dr. Hashmi filed a Motion
for Remittitur or to Reduce the Verdict in accordance with the statutory cap
on non-economic damages. Additionally, Dr. Hashmi filed a Supplemental
Memorandum in Support of the Motion to Reduce Verdict claiming that he was
entitled to an additional reduction pursuant to Maryland's Contribution
Among Joint Tortfeasors Act. Under this argument, Dr. Hashmi asserted that
not only was he entitled to contribution from the settling Defendants, but
also from three other distinct actors employed by Good Samaritan Hospital
including Dr. Hina Sahi, Nurse Kathleen Bosse, and another unidentified
nurse in the emergency room. The Plaintiffs resisted the reduction by these
three additional shares and argued that those three parties were never named
as defendants, never admitted liability, and never were adjudged liable by
the trial court or the jury, i.e., they were
never on the verdict sheet completed by the jury. Moreover, the Plaintiffs
argued that the clear and unambiguous language of the Good Samaritan release
contemplated only one joint tortfeasor.
Judge Kaye A. Allison, presiding over the Circuit Court
for Baltimore City, reduced the judgment against Dr. Hashmi to $1,795,000
pursuant to the statutory cap on non-economic damages as codified in Md.
Code Ann., Cts. & Jud. Proc., § 11-108. She additionally determined that the
verdict would be divided among the settling Defendants. However, Judge
Allison declined to follow Dr. Hashmi's arguments that the judgment should
be further allocated to the three non-parties. Accordingly, judgment was
entered against Dr. Hashmi in the amount of $598,333.33.
The Court of Special Appeals affirmed the trial court,
finding that the Good Samaritan release clearly and unambiguously identified
only Good Samaritan Hospital as a joint tortfeasor and that Dr. Sahi, Nurse
Bosse, and the unidentified nurse, cannot attain joint tortfeasor status as
they are non-parties to a settlement agreement.
Dr. Hashmi appealed to the Court of Appeals. Relying
upon basic principles of contract law, the Court determined that the Good
Samaritan release is plain and unambiguous. The Good Samaritan release
identified only Good Samaritan Hospital as the sole joint tortfeasor.
However, the Court noted that even if the Good Samaritan release were
ambiguous, the Court would not consider separate post-trial proceedings in
which Dr. Hashmi would be allowed to offer evidence as to the negligence of
three non-parties. Those three additional parties were not joined in the
action and thus, could not be considered joint tortfeasors.
To attain joint tortfeasor status, Dr. Hashmi would
have had to join those three parties pursuant to Md. Rule 2-332(a). Maryland
courts do not permit judicial termination of a joint tortfeasor status
without the parties having been joined as defendants or third parties.
Accordingly, the Court of Appeals affirmed the intermediate appellate court,
and the trial court. Dr. Hashmi cannot seek further reduction of the
judgment entered against him based on the alleged joint tortfeasor status of
the non-joined parties.
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