The plaintiffs claimed damages for historical sexual assaults against multiple defendants.
The plaintiffs entered into Pierringer settlement agreements with all defendants except three, and the action against the settling defendants was dismissed.
The remaining active defendant, Dr. Kerr, moved to set aside the dismissal order, arguing the trial judge might lack jurisdiction to apportion fault to the settling defendants under s. 1 of the Negligence Act.
The motions judge held the court lacked jurisdiction.
The Court of Appeal allowed the appeal, holding that the Superior Court has jurisdiction to determine the degree of fault of the settling defendants, even though they will not be parties at trial, as this avoids prejudice to the non-settling defendants and promotes the public interest in settlement.
