Charles R. Browder and Teresa Noland Browder, v. Jerry C. Morris and Chris Castleberry, et al.

This is an interlocutory appeal by appellants, Charles R. and Teresa Noland Browder, from the trial court’s denial of a motion seeking to amend their complaint to name an additional party defendant pursuant to T.C.A. § 20-1-119. The statute was enacted in response to the supreme court’s decision in McIntyre v. Balentine, 833 S.W.2d 52 (Tenn. 1992), which abolished the doctrine of contributory negligence in Tennessee and adopted principles of comparative fault. The statute allots a plaintiff in cases of comparative fault additional time beyond the normal running of the statute of limitations within which to join a previously unnamed defendant by either amendment of the complaint or institution of a separate action. The issue presented here is whether the statute as enacted contemplates the joinder of a third party defendant whose liability, if any, is vicarious only.