Joseph M. TIESLER, a minor by Joseph Tiesler H. Elizabeth Tiesler and Joseph Tiesler & H. Elizabeth Tiesler, in their own right v. MARTIN PAINT STORES, INC. and Bushwick Can Co., Inc. and H & S Solvent Corporation and Joseph Keller, a minor, 76 F.R.D. 640

Summary

The child was injured while playing with the minor when a can of denatured alcohol, sold by the store, exploded. The parents and child filed an action against the store, corporation, and minor and the minor was dismissed from the action. The store impleaded the minor pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 14 and asserted that his actions were the proximate cause of the child's injuries. The minor filed a motion to dismiss or motion to sever the parents as plaintiffs and add them as fourth-party defendants on the basis that they were negligent in supervising the children. The court denied the motion to dismiss but granted the motion to sever. Under Rule 14 impleader was proper because the claim of the store against the minor was not an entirely separate and independent claim. If the store was found to have been negligent the minor could have been found liable to the store. However, because the contribution claim of the minor against the parents was not matured, being contingent on the minor's ...